One Piece: A New Dawn
by Z. Angaros
Summary: So much has happened in the world since his escape from Impel Down and now he's on an Island with a new issue to deal with, How will Arlong deal with this job he's taken on and how will the Fishwoman, Lulu Bon, deal with meeting other fishmen for the first time?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story takes place after the Straw Hat crew leaves Fishman Island, if you're reading it along with my other One Piece stories it takes place 3 years after 'Turn the Page' and 'Flowers in the Sand' begins and During the story 'A Gathering Storm Pt 2'**

 **One Piece and all the characters belong to Eiichiro Oda, all the OC's (including Bala bala island) belong to me**

 **Please leave reviews :)**

The sea was calm, a small blessing right now. The world was in chaos, it had been a little over two years since the news of Whitebeard's death spread across the world and it spurred a widespread grasp for power. Pirates from all the seas struck out to claim the territories that once where under the old man's protection. Even the Marines had been preoccupied trying to pick up the pieces of their ruined headquarters and the chaos of the power grabbing so their forces were spread thin and in disorder. So to put it simply, it had been the perfect time to move about unnoticed and get as far from the strife as they could. It's not as if they were very noticeable anyways, not like they once wore…

Arlong's eyes stared out across the west blue, his face in a permanent scowl. Not many of his brother's survived their imprisonment in Impel Down and fewer lived thru the escape, none of them had any idea that it was that damn straw hat human that served as their unwitting liberator at the time and that idea pissed him off even more. That bastard took away everything he had worked so hard for; those islands he took control of, all the money he saved up and the men he gathered… All of it was gone.

He took a deep breath, letting the salty air fill his lungs as he recalled everything… twice now. Twice he's escaped that hellish place by someone else's hand… and once again he's starting over from scratch. He knew he could've gone back home to fishman island, a few of his brothers did just that and for a moment he considered it… but not now. A short time ago he got news of what Hody had done… the damn fool. Not to mention the unspeakable act that his sworn brother, Jinbe, had done… Sharing his blood with a human would have been bad enough but to add insult to injury it was that damn straw hat once again. Then that damn human goes and declares that he would be the protector of Fishman Island, him! The thought of it all pissed him off to no end and now… there's no way he could ever return home; his pride wouldn't allow it.

He turned away, looking at the few men that stuck with him. He could always count on Chew and Kuroobi, they agreed to come with him without even needing to be asked but he could tell that the news of what happened in their home was constantly on their mind… he sighed a little. He knew what he needed to do, he needed to rebuild what he once had. Become a force so strong that nobody would dare threaten his home or his people, he'd create a new age for fishmen and to do that he'd need funds…

"Captain!"

A man up in the crow's nest called down to him and he raised his eyes upward. "What is it?"

"There's an island straight ahead!"

"Eh?" He raised a brow as he turned forward, he didn't remember there being an island on the charts. "Kuroobi, what is that place?"

The ray man came up beside him, eyeing the sea chart as he scratched his head. "I have no idea, there aren't any islands marked down at all." He handed the map to his Captain as he took out a scope to check it out. "It looks like a really small island but I see smoke, possibly from chimneys or camp fires."

"Alright." Arlong grinned, as he rolled up the piece of paper. "Well boys, we need to replenish our resources. What do you say?"

The men smirked, it's how they had managed to survive all this time. They never stayed settled down like before, they couldn't risk it with the Marine's being so gung-ho about hunting down all the escaped prisoners and their strength wasn't even half of what it once was but a little place like this shouldn't offer up any resistance.

"We're with ya Captain."

"Let's get em."

"Lead the way!"

A combination of snickers and words of approval went around the ship and Arlong gave another wide grin, he knew he could count on them. "Let's do this then. You boys know the drill." He turned away and went into his cabin, grabbing his shirt and slipping it on but leaving it unbuttoned as was his custom. He could hear the men outside prepping for the raid, here in the confines of his personal space he allowed himself to sigh heavily. He was growing tired of this way of life; ducking in and out of ports to avoid drawing attention, doing these damn raids like petty thieves and generally hiding like a bunch of lowly humans… Was this really all the once great Arlong Pirates could do? He let out a low growl, they needed to rebuild… they needed to be great again.

* * *

The town was busy as it normally was, especially at the end of the month. The trading boats would be back soon and everyone was preparing to great the returning sailors. A fox faced old man took his morning stroll, smiling and waving as he walked past. He loved this time of the month, all the town folk buzzing about like bees. The laughter and chatter made him feel young, as young as a man his age could be at least.

"Gran- Ba! Gran- Ba!"

A collection of children ran up to the old man and he turned around to greet them. "Why hello children." It was odd for them to be so worked up this early. "What can I do for you Sebastian?" He directed his question to the leader of this little troupe, these boys where always together pretending to be fierce warriors. It made everyone chuckle and kept the doctors on their toes.

"I keep telling you not to call me that." The boy wiped his nose as he stood up. "It's Captain Bas!"

"Yea!" Was the combined response of the other four boys.

He chuckled has he ruffled the boy's red hair. "Ah, how silly of me to forget." He took his pipe out from its hiding place and lit it, taking a few puffs as he shook the match he used to extinguish the little flame. "Now what is it you needed?"

"Oh yea!" Bas exclaimed, he had forgotten all about it for a minute. "We were up on bumble peak…"

"What?!" The old man yelled at the boys. "It's dangerous up there! You know that!"

"But that's got the best view of the harbor!" One boy responded.

"We were keeping watch for our ships!" Another chimed in.

The old man rubbed the bridge of his nose, these damn kids would be the death of him. Everyone knew to stay away from Bumble Peak, only he was allowed there.

"There's a ship heading this way and it's not one of ours." Sebastian spoke up as he settled his crew down. "There's no flags or anything to mark it so we don't know who it could be."

"Hmm?" He looked up and tilted his hat back to better eye the boys. "What size was the ship?"

"Uuuuuh." He thought back for a moment, he only saw it through his scope so there was never a way to be sure from such a distance but still… "Pretty sure it was a schooner type, couldn't been more than 140 feet long."

He stroked his long goatee with a grin, the boy really knew his boats. "Couldn't be more than 75 people on a ship like that…" He turned back to the marketplace where a few of the townsfolk had stopped to listen in on the conversation. "Listen up everyone!" He said in a loud voice and waited till he had everyone's attention. "We'll be having guests shortly. No flags and no marks, you all know what that usually means."

"We'll be happy to show em our hospitality!" A voice belonging to a man yelled from the back, followed by a series of chuckles.

"That we will." The old man chuckled along with them as he pulled the brim of his tattered old hat down. Looks like today will be more interesting than he thought, it had been awhile since they had any guests on this little island of theirs.

* * *

Arlong's feet landed heavy against the swaying dock, he was the first to leave the ship as always. Scanning the area with keen eyes as a group of his men followed, one of them securing the boat to the dock so they could leave quickly if need be. Hauling the anchor back up if they dropped it would take too much time but now that he got a good look at the place he doubted he would need to rush. The town was right next to the docks… And not a soul in sight. Looks like they had all ran and hid when the ship came close, carts full of produce where still in the streets. Shops with sweet cakes still warm in the trays… There. He spotted a face peeking out through a window and he smiled, fear is what he wanted them to feel. "Come on out!" He shouted with his wide shark tooth grin, arms spread out to show he had no weapons. "We don't want to hurt anybody." Behind him his men started snickering again, he could hear the sound of their hands against sword and gun. Purely for intimidation of course. "We just need some supplies." He began walking further into the market, eyeing the windows and the people hiding behind them.

Inside the sweets shop, only a few feet from where these fishmen's leader was, the old man leaned against the counter still puffing on his pipe. Now this was a development.

"Hey gramps, isn't he that big time pirate that got taken down in the east blue a few years back." Sebastian asked from his seat on the floor beside him, his crew lined up next to him munching on honey cakes.

"Good eye." He patted the boys head approvingly, the man looked a little different but there could be no mistaking who Arlong was. Still, it was odd. They've never had fishmen come to the island before… And him of all people. "Well, let's get on with it." He tapped the ash from his pipe and made his way to the door, putting on his best 'hapless old man' face.

A door creaked open and the Pirates turned their gaze to the door of the bakery, Arlong rested his hands on his hips as the old man creeped out timidly. "Are you in charge here?"

"I'm the closest thing to the Mayor, sir." He tipped his hat a bit with a nod. "The names Sebastian Stone Jr." He offered up a slight smile. "But everyone calls me Gran-Ba."

Arlong arched a brow, the old man seemed harmless but at the same time his care free attitude kinda pissed him off. "You know who I am."

"Yes sir." Came the simple response.

"And you're not scared?" He took a few steps to close the gap, he towered well above the old man just like any other human but there was something different about this one… He might have looked helpless but there was no fear…

Gran looked up to meet the fishman's gaze, it took all is effort not to laugh. Why did all these youngsters try to intimidate him with their height? "You did say you didn't want to hurt us; you are a man of your word. Yes?"

Arlong smiled, widely. "That I am." He almost liked this guy, almost. "So offer us some belli and supplies for my ship and we'll leave your nice little town and all its residents unharmed."

"We will comply." He raised his hands a little, a signal for the others to begin opening their doors and peering out. "We can stock your ship with food, medicine and drink but we have no worthwhile amount of belli here. The owner of this island controls that resource."

"Eh?" His smile faded as he tilted his head to one side. "Who's this 'owner' then?" A part of him did wonder who controlled this island, the fact that it is a privately owned land meant he didn't have to worry about the Marines getting involved right away.

He pointed to the road behind him that disappeared into the woods. "Simon D. Bon, this path leads right past his home…"

"Is it normal for you people to be so complacent?"

"Just following orders." Gran pulled out his pipe and struck a match, so this man was smarter than he seemed. Wasn't all puffed chests and intimidation after all. "He's a good man, told us to send anyone wanting money to him and take care of the others." He tossed the used match away and took a few puffs. "Nobody here wants to get hurt over something as trivial as belli or food."

Arlong frowned a little. "You consider the things that make this entire world run, trivial?"

The old man laughed a little, the corners of his mouth turning up into a wide smile. "Beyond a doubt."

The fishman looked away, he was starting not to like this old man. "Chew, Kuroobi… Come with me." He raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "Everyone else, I want that shipped stocked and ready to leave when I get back."

A combination of various acknowledgments sounded out as the small group made their way down the path, Arlong kept his hands buried in the pockets as he walked.

"What's the matter?" The ray man asked as they walked, he recognized that something was bothering his Captain. More than usual that is.

Arlong grunted in response. "Not sure about this place… everything seems too easy."

"I agree." Kuroobi nodded, something was off about this place but he just couldn't place it.

"Chuu… Do you think this could be a trap?" Chew eyed the woods that was either side of the path they walked on with suspicion.

Arlong grumbled to himself, he wasn't sure to be honest. No one down in that village looked like they could do any real harm but there was a time he thought the same thing about those damn Straw Hats. "Just keep your eyes open, I don't want to be caught off guard if it is." He could hardly believe he was so tense, there was a time he could walk with his head held high and no fear of anything… Now look at him. Worried that a bunch of villagers might try something… Damnit.

The path was a straight one, they walked it cautiously till it opened up into a clearing and in the center was not a home they were expecting to find considering it was supposed to be the home of the island's master. The place was simple, two stories that looked like it could only accommodate a small family. Off to the side of the main house looked like a workshop, he could see tools hanging from the roof but the reed shades were closed so he didn't know what type of work area it was. Then in the backyard there was a structure that stood taller than the trees around the whole area, it looked like some fence that could've surrounded something but there was no telling what from only looking at the front of the house.

As they got closer there was something else that caught their attention; the house itself, while seemingly normal from a distance, was actually quite large. The front door alone seemed big enough to accommodate most fishmen, Arlong himself would barely have to duck to get in unlike most human houses where the frame would hardly come up to his chest.

"Do you think the man fits the house?" Kuroobi questioned as he eyed the place, it was quiet. No smoke was coming from the chimney either, was anyone even home?

Arlong scrutinized the place quietly, he wasn't sure what to think honestly. "We'll find out." He knocked on the door, three loud bangs with his knuckles then took a step back.

From inside they heard a woman's voice respond. "Comiiiing!" It was a sing song tone that confused the other three, they hadn't been expecting a woman to answer.

The door flew open and a smiling face greeted them… Or would have if she wasn't bent over and face to stomach with Arlong. "Hellooooo."

"A…. Fishwoman!" Kuroobi and Chew exclaimed together as they eyed the pink skinned woman leaning out of the doorway, her white and red streaked hair tumbling over her shoulders.

Arlong stuttered a bit as he looked down to the woman smiling at his abdomen, this was the last thing he expected to happen.

"Oh?" She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the shade of blue in front of her, brown eyes traveling upward as she stood up to meet the man's blue gaze. "You're… Not from the village." It had been a long time since she met anyone taller than her, she only came up to this man's chin. She leaned over slightly to eye the other two… Just as tall and the way they looked…

Arlong cleared his throat, overcoming the initial shock. What where the odds of fishmen owning this island? "Apologies but I had business with a man I thought lived here, a Simon D. Bon."

Kuroobi and Chew could feel their faces becoming red, it had been a long time since anyone on their ship had seen a fish woman or mermaid and this one was attractive. Her pale pink skin was striped with brown and the top she wore hung dangerously low, only being supported by a rope draped over her neck. The pants being no better, they ended just below the knee but again hung low on her hips due to what looked like pectoral fins which would've kept her from wearing them normally.

"Bon? He's away right now, did you need him for a job?" She kept eyeing the three men, she was certain they were fishmen although she had never seen others like her before. Gran had told her how they were all different in their own right and she couldn't argue that… But where they really fishmen?

"Not quite." Arlong was still in shock, the woman seemed a lot more cautious than the villagers. He could tell she was uncertain of them… Almost as if she was afraid. "Do you know who I am?"

She shook her head 'no' as she folded her arms in front of her, the two men in back were eyeing her oddly and she didn't know what to make of this. "Are you fishmen?"

The three dropped their jaws at that question, did she really have no idea? Kuroobi stepped forward a little, being the first to compose himself. "Yes, same as you… You've never seen fishmen before?"

Again she shook her head. "I was raised here and none have ever come to the island before…" her voice was a bit meek as she retreated back another step.

There it was, Arlong could smell it. Fear. Why would this woman fear her own kind? "We aren't like humans." He put his hand up to try and ease her fear. "We'd never hurt one of our own, little sister."

The other two nodded in agreement as they also raised their hands in a submissive manor.

She couldn't help but smile a little, Bon would get so mad if he heard them call her that. "Bon should be home soon, the boats usually get back around this time, you can wait for him if you like… Misteeeeer?"

"Arlong." He smiled at her as he motioned to the other two. "And that's Kuroobi and Chew."

"Chuu… A pleasure." He shot her a wink accompanied by a flirtatious grin which rewarded him with a blushing smile from her in return.

Kuroobi coughed a little and averted his eyes. "Hello." He simply stated, he wasn't good at being a flirt like his companion.

Arlong met her eyes again and held out his hand. "And what do we call you?"

She tried not to smile but she couldn't deny he was charming and they are all very handsome, she took the hand cautiously; trying to keep from looking into those piercing eyes of his as she averted her eyes to this and that. "Lulu Bon… It's nice to meet you."

He gave her hand a gently squeeze but didn't let go right away, he noted the last name though as he rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. "Is Simon your husband then."

"N…no." She blushed as she took her hand back, holding it to her chest as she tried to rub the tingling sensation away. "He's my big brother."

If those two are the only fishmen on this island then that must mean she's single, the luck keeps rolling his way today. Maybe he can strike an agreement with this brother of hers, he could start rebuilding his empire here on this little island.

"Like I said, he'll be back soon so you can wait for him." She motioned to a patch of grass to the side. "Rest over there and I'll bring out some drinks and sandwiches. I'd invite you inside but Bon would get mad at me for having guest inside the house while he's gone."

"It's understandable." He took a few steps back. "I'd be worried about leaving a pretty thing like you alone too."

Her cheeks got hotter as she closed the door with a smile, his eyes never leaving her until she shut it completely. Her heart was pounding as she made her way to the kitchen to make the sandwiches for them, she still could hardly believe it. Fishmen, here on Balabala.

Outside Arlong could only grin as the three walked over to the patch of grass and sat down.

"Chuu, you're pretty smooth boss." He stated as he positioned himself cross legged with a grin.

"I must agree." Kuroobi said as he followed the others example when sitting down, resting his arms on his knees as he did. "I've never seen you interact with fishwomen before, or a mermaid for that matter."

He only laughed as he laid down on his side, head propped up by his fist. "I've had enough of 'interactions' that I know what I'm doing." He grinned as he said that. "The way I see things, if we can win over little sister there then perhaps we could convince big brother to let us use this island as a base of operations."

"Ah, I see." Kuroobi grinned, he had to hand it to Arlong. There was no one better at finding useful attributes in others.

* * *

Gran sat on a barrel, casually smoking his pipe. Around him the villagers were tying up the crew that had been left behind.

Bas was nudging the body of a purple skinned fishman with his toe. "These guys didn't put up much of a fight against your Haki."

The old man just chuckled. "I don't suppose there would be very many that could if they are coming to an out of the way place like this." Which was true, they were no strangers to these little raids and each time it was a band of wannabe pirates looking for the great Balabala treasure. Stupid fools… Although this time was different, these fishmen didn't mention the treasure once… Could it be they just stumbled upon the island? But why sail so close to the calm belt…

A long whistle caught everyone's attention as a familiar one eyed man came walking up from the Docks. "Looks like you all had some fun."

"Bon!" Bas yelled out as he ran up with his crew in tow. "Gran took em all down with Haoshoku Haki in just a few seconds!" He didn't want to admit it but he was proud of his grandpa, the old man was tuff.

Bon laughed loudly. "I wouldn't expect anything less from a Haki master." He ruffled the boy's hair and turned to look at the ship. "Bet we could sell that for a pretty penny, any of them got bounties?"

"Pretty sure the Captain is the only one but we'll check the lists for the rest." Gran tapped out his pipe and jumped from his perch, walking beside the younger man as they eyed the tied up pirates. "So how was he by the by. Him and his men give you any trouble?"

Bon furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"The two fishmen that were with Arlong that I sent your way. They seemed the strongest of the lot."

"Arlong was their Captain!" There was a surprise but his bounty would be great for the island.

Gran arched a brow. "You didn't recognize him?"

Bon scratched his head trying to think, he was sure he'd remember coming up on Arlong at sea… "I swear I never saw him…"

"That doesn't bode well…" The last thing they needed to worry about was those fishmen lurking somewhere on the island… Unless they went to bumble peak that is. "I sent them to your house over an hour ago…"

Bon's jaw dropped to the dirt when he heard that. "You sent ARLONG to my HOUSE!" His raised voice drew everyone's attention. "I only just now got back!"

Everyone in the village went silent and pale as a ghost, mouth hanging open and eyes bulging. Those pirates had been alone with Lulu this entire time!

Bon bolted without another word, everything else forgotten. He had to get to her, he had to make sure she was safe and he swore to god he'd crush every last one of them if so much as a hair on her head was out of place.

 **To Be Continued…**


	2. Chapter 2

Lu sat with her legs to one side as she munched on the apple slices and sandwiches she had prepared for the others. She was enjoying this, never had she been given the chance to talk to other fishmen so the questions were rolling off her tongue as they answered each of her inquiries with smiles of their own.

Arlong grinned as he watched her, she had opened up to them quite a bit but those cheeks still kept getting rosy when him or Chew would make a flattering comment or the slightest of touches as she refilled their glasses. "So tell me." He got her attention as he tossed an apple slice into his mouth. "Since you didn't know we were fishmen, were you and your brother born here?"

"Bon was." She answered as she took a sip from her lemonade. "I was washed ashore here after a terrible storm."

The three men exchanges curious glances, what she said didn't entirely make much sense to them.

She noted their looks and clapped her hands together. "Oh! I'll get my album!" She exclaimed as she rose to her feet and disappeared into the house before any of them could say a word. She emerged just as quickly carrying a large book in her arms. "Mama and Papa made this for me so I'd always know what happened." She sat down next to Arlong with the book on her lap, the other two came over to peer over her shoulder as she opened it to the first page. A long webbed finger pointed to a newspaper article that was neatly cut and glued down. "This was the article from the villages newspaper… 'Days after a fierce storm devastated the island wreckage began to wash ashore…'"

Arlong listened as she read the clipping out loud for them, his eyes staring at the grey scale photo that showed a beach covered in debris from a destroyed ship… And just barely, he could see the outline of bodies amongst the wreckage.

"I was the only survivor…" She said with a sigh that drew in their attention, the others could see the sadness in her eyes as she turned the page in her album but still he me words did not make sense to them.

Once more the shark man eyed her, so if she was the only survivor than who…

"LU!"

A loud voice startled them, all eyes went upward to see a violet haired human running up to them with the old man from before just behind him.

Her sadness temporarily forgotten she set the album down onto the grass and waved happily to them. "Bon! Welcome home!"

"THAT'S Bon?!" The fishmen exclaimed in unison with wide eyes and gapping jaws. "A HUMAN?!"

 ** _*In Bon's Mind*_**

 _His poor sweet little sister was surrounded, her gentle eyes filled with tears as she called to him. The men around her eyeing her body with lecherous intent, tongues lolling as they crept closer with itching hands reaching to soil her sweet innocence._

 _*_ _ **Reality**_ _*_

Lu continued to wave happily as she smiled brightly, completely oblivious to the shocked expressions of the three around her.

Gran breathed a sigh of relief as he eyed the situation, leave it to little Lu to serve murderous pirates lemonade and snacks. Still, why were those gents just sitting around leisurely considering their intentions when docking… Curious.

Bon didn't stop until he came to stand in front of them, grabbing Lu's waving arm and pulling her behind him defensively. "What do you bastards think you're trying to do to my baby sister!" He glared at them with murderous intent in his eye, he released his hold on her and slipped off the glove from his right hand.

Arlong's initial shock faded away as he met the new man's gaze with a growing scowl, he didn't like the look in the others eye or the way he yanked the girl away. She was much larger and obviously heavier than him but still he managed to man handle her as if she was nothing more than the small child he referred tower her as.

"Bon…" Lu whimpered from behind him as she took note of the removal of his glove, she didn't want them to fight…

"We were just having a friendly chat." The sharkman spoke through clenched teeth, he remained seated but could hear his companions standing up behind him.

"It's true Bon." She spoke quietly as she touched his shoulder gently, he had such a rotten temper when it came to men being alone with her. "They are all really nice…"

He didn't hear her words as he tossed the glove aside, how dare they try to take advantage of her kindness. His precious little sister. "Friendly my ass." He spat. "I know what your type would do to her."

A low growl escaped through those shark teeth. "Your type?" He questioned the phrase as his hands clenched tightly turning his knuckles white as he attempted to control the building rage.

"I didn't stutter…"

Bon's sentence was cut short, in the briefest of instants he felt the pressure on his side before his body was sent forcibly tumbling in a sideways spin that sent him flying through the stone wall of his home.

Gran sighed, still standing in his wide legged stance with open hand occupying the spot the boy's body once stood. He knew Bon would be fine, this wasn't the first time he's used his old man kenpo on the boy. "That's enough boy."

"Ooooooh, Gran Baaaaaa." Lu whined as she looked at the large hole in her wall. "Did you have to break the house again?"

"I'm sorry sweet child." The old man brushed himself off a little then produced his pipe with with a reassuring smile. "We'll have it fixed up for you my tonight."

"Do you think he's ok?" She asked as she stood on her tip toes trying to see her brother but all she got a glimpse of was a leg sticking out with a little twitch to it.

"He's fine." Gran stated plainly as he turned his attention to the fishmen, a trail of white smoke trailing from his lips as he puffed on his pipe. "Now, I believe we've had a misunderstanding." He hadn't planned on stepping in line he did but tempers were riding pretty quickly and he didn't want an all out brawl if he could avoid it.

Arlong wasn't quite sure what was going on, that old geezer shoved the guy like it was nothing. The same complacent old man that backed down from him earlier… Was what happened in the town all an act?

Kuroobi had sweat lining his brow as he eyed the old man, that was no ordinary blow and his stance was impeccable. There could be no denying that man was a martial arts master… So why did he back down earlier? And just how many others in that town were as strong as him?

"I'm sorry." Lu stepped forward and bowed her head deeply. "My brother is very protective, he's like that to everybody." She straightened herself and clasped her hands together pleadingly. "Please don't be mad at him."

Arlong still wore a scowl as he stood up finally, the fact that she was apologizing for that human pissed him off. He had been mistaken to think these siblings would be any use to him, it was a shame too. Such a lovely fishwoman and she was tainted by humans raising her in their ways. They didn't even have the decency to tell her about her own people.

"Damn it old man!" Bon yelled from the house as he kicked rubble out of the way and stumbled over bits of his wall in frustration, his stomping feet bringing back over to the old bastard. "You messed up my house! AGAIN!"

Gran didn't look at him as he picked his nose with a tired expression. "You shouldn't lose your temper over little misunderstandings." He flicked the booger away as he gave the boy a sideways glance. "And it's really Lu's house, you're rarely home enough to call it yours."

The two began to bicker back and forth, Lu hugged herself a little as she sighed. They could be at it for hours…

Arlong could feel his patience thinning by the second as the humans carried on as if they weren't even there. So far he had been insulted, disrespected and ignored… All of those events were trying his very last nerve. He raised his hand slowly, a movement his two brothers knew meant he wanted this issue dealt with. He'd spare the girl… It wasn't her fault she had been corrupted by these humans…

"God damn pirates!" Bon yelled abruptly as he turned his attention back to the fishmen. "All you people care about is Belli so let's make a deal, I stock you with enough coin and supplies to be on your way and in return you leave this island and forget this place ever existed." He stepped in between his sister and the intruders, his right hand extended in front of him defensively. "If you don't like that option then I'll kill every last one of your men I have tied up in the village."

Eyes went wide at that revelation and all three of the fishmen bristled, all of the men had been captured? But how?!

Gran stepped forward, hands up to try and calm them. "None of the were harmed, you have my word on that."

"You're… Pirates…" Lu brought a hand to her mouth in shock, she had no idea… they weren't like the other's that had come to the island. She knew that not all pirates were evil… but she finally understood her brother's actions and why these men came to her door in the first place.

Arlong eyed the girl, that look in her eyes… was she afraid of them now? His eyes traveled back to the old man, it had to be him that took his men down… "How did you defeat my crew?"

"That doesn't matter." Bon dismissed the question, they owed these people no explanations. "You heard my arrangement, do we have a deal. Pirate." He spat the title as continued the stare down match with the fishman Captain.

Blue eyes turned back to his companions that shared the same stressing expression, could this be a bluff? Dare he risk the lives of his brothers for this trivial little island?... No, they had all been through enough and they still were recovering from their escape from impel down. "Fine…" He grumbled, he had to swallow his pride now…

"W…wait." Lu spoke up hesitantly and touched Bon's shoulder to get his attention. "I know… I know you want them gone soon… but…" She rubbed her hands together as she shifted her weight, it felt odd asking such a thing but… "Could they stay… just a little while longer…"

"Lu…" Bon sighed as he looked up to her, what's with this request all of a sudden?

"I know." She raised her hands to stop him from lecturing. "I know, better than anyone, about what pirates can do…" Her voice trailed off a little, it has been so long since it happened but it was still so fresh in her mind… she felt, for a moment, the tears welling up in her eyes but a soft glove and cupped her cheek effectionatly. She met her brother's eyes and smiled gently to him "But Arlong told me that they'd never hurt one of their own kind… and I believe him." She looked up to meet the fishman's eyes, she had to believe he was telling the truth. "I don't believe he'd hurt me… and I want to know more about fishmen and mermaids and fishman island…" She looked back down to her brother, clenching her fists in determination. "Even if it's only for a little while, I want to learn what I can."

Gran listened quietly as he smoked from his pipe, what a predicament. He'd never guess that she'd ask for something like this… and here he was, powerless to deny her anything. No one on this island could ever deny this sweet child. "May I ask you something Arlong." He looked up to the towering fishmen, all of them were still visibly tense and understandably so. To hear such a thing as the pirate Arlong backing down for the sake of his men… it was all the proof he needed to know he wouldn't hurt the child.

"What." He replied sharply as his eyes moved between the three faces staring at him, the old man seemed to be the most level headed of them all and the boy had the shortest of tempers… then there was her, he wasn't sure what to think of her yet…

"Why did you come to this island?"

"Eh?" He arched a brow at the odd question, his intentions were fairly clear when they spoke down in the village…

"More so…" Gran extended his question. "How did you happen to find this island?" That was the real question, it had taken them many years to erase this island from any maps being made so now only maps from about 20 years ago should have this island marked.

Another odd question but he decided to entertain it. "Purely by chance." He folded his arms in front of his broad chest as he relaxed his posture. "We had been out to sea longer than our supplies could maintain and we came up on this island."

"Why would you sail so close to the calm belt?" That fact alone kept many would be visitors at bay, it was easy for currents to sweep ships into the belt if the man at the helm wasn't paying attention.

"Tch, you make it sound like I couldn't handle navigating something like that."

"Oh ho." Gran mused. "So you navigate your own ship?"

Arlong gave a little growl, he couldn't help but feel mildly insulted by the tone in the old man's voice. "Of course I can, a Captain shouldn't expect his crew to do anything he can't."

Lu smiled a little and exchanged a chuckle with the elderly man. "That sounds like somebody we know huh, Gran-Ba."

Bon's face turned a little red at the teasing and he looked away.

Gran was satisfied with what had been said and nodded his head with a smile, he tapped Bon's arm to get his attention as he took a half step back looking up to Lu. "Sweet child, I noticed that we interrupted your lunch. Why don't you take a seat for a moment while your brother and I have a chat." He eyed the fishmen as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. "And perhaps these gents could stay a moment and help you clean up the mess."

"Ah… Ok." She said questionably as she watched the two men walk off and out of ear shot before turning back to the guest that were still visibly upset. She wanted to say something, anything, to them to make them feel less tense but she thought it best to just be quite as she knelt down to pick up the glasses that had been spilled.

Chew saw the opportunity and knelt down to help her. "Let me give you a hand, chuu." He said with a wink as he picked up the glass she was reaching for; this whole event might have gone south but she was still really cute.

She blushed as she took the glass from him and set it on the tray, his fingers had grazed against hers in the transfer and made her smile. "Th… thank you, Chew-san."

His cheeks got a little rosy at that. 'Lu-chan is so cute!' he thought to himself as he continued to help her pick up the glasses.

"OYE!" Bon's voice yelled at them from the distance. "I see the way you're looking at her!" The outburst warranted him another shove that sent him tumbling but he recovered much quicker this time and returned to his heated conversation with Gran.

Arlong watched everything quietly before directing his full attention to the girl that was giggling in response to his companion's flirtatious antics, even Kuroobi had knelt down to help pick up the apple slices that had been knocked over. She smiled to them both but her eyes still seemed sad. "Are you scared of us, little sister?" He asked finally, the look on her face when she discovered that they are pirates was still fresh in his mind.

She considered his question for a moment as she took the plate of apple slices from Kuroobi and set it on the tray. "A little…" she answered truthfully, keeping her eyes down to prevent her from meeting that piercing gaze of his. "Lots of pirates come to this island and they always cause trouble…" She looked back to the two men still arguing. "They keep us all safe, rarely do pirate make it to my door when Bon isn't home… In fact, you're the first in many years…" She sighed heavily as she went back to cleaning up the mess. "What are the odds that you'd be fishmen?"

He crouched down and touched her chin with his fingertips, gently drawing her face to look up to him. "You barely recognized your own species, did these humans tell you nothing about us?"

"OYE OYE! Hands off my sister!" Once more Bon's voice erupted from behind them.

"Tch." Arlong spat as he glared at the man, for someone in the middle of a yelling match with the old man he sure isn't letting that distract him from what's going on over here.

She shook her head with a smile at Bon's over protectiveness and went back to picking up the mess, rearranging the tray a little to fit the plate of sandwiches. "The islanders told me as much as they could, but none of them have really left the island let alone met fishmen, mermaids or have been to fishmen island. In fact, my brother and sister are the only ones who have."

"Sister?"

"Oh!" Her eyes got a little wide and she leaned in a bit to whisper to them. "Don't mention her to Bon, they haven't spoken in years and he doesn't know that I still talk to her."

'Curious' Arlong thought to himself, what type of person was this sister of hers? "If you want to learn more about us then come with us when we leave." He said it confidently with a wide smile.

His two companions shared the same shocked expression as the girls, who would have thought he'd make such an offer out of the blue and she had to admit that she was tempted but… "I can't." She said it with a sigh, she would really love to. Being able to travel the ocean was a dream of hers but still… with a sigh she stood up, tray in hands and the mess picked up. "I'm needed here."

His frown returned as he and the other two fishmen stood up with her, his hands resting on his hips as he eyed her. "Needed for what? To be there pretty little slave?"

"What?" She looked at him a little shocked, where in the world did that assumption come from? "No, all of the islanders are very nice to me."

"Then why are you dressed in rags?" He asked as he eyed the clothes she was wearing, the fact that they were torn and soiled by, what looked like, soot pissed him off a little. The way she thought so highly of these humans didn't help matters at all either.

"These?" She looked down at her clothes, not thinking that they looked nearly as bad as he described. "These are my work clothes." She smiled a little, slightly embarrassed by the fact they apparently made her look like a slave. "I'm a bit of a klutz and kept burning my good clothes so I wear these instead." She nodded towards the workshop with the wooden shades. "I'm the only blacksmith on this island."

"Oh?" They didn't expect that; she didn't seem like the type but nevertheless it was interesting. "What can you…"

"Lu!"

Bon's voice interrupted Arlong's question as he walked back over with Gran in tow, he bent down to pick up the glove he removed earlier and slipped it back on. With a sigh he made a 'come here' gesture with his finger that got her to bend down to his level and he planted an affectionate kiss on her cheek as he took the tray from her. "I'll bring these inside, the Captain and I need to speak in private."

"We do?" Arlong crossed his arms as he looked down at the man, what could he and the old man have said to bring this about.

He looked up to the shark a with a scowl. "I have another proposition for you." He didn't entirely agree with the old man's idea but he couldn't deny there were a few good points to what was said.

"Please Arlong-sama." Lu stepped closer to him a little bit, she had a good feeling about this and her instincts were rarely ever wrong. "Listen to what my brother has to say."

"Oye, oye, oye." Bon stepped in-between them. "What's with the formal name, what did you do to my baby sister while I was away!" He glared at the fishman distrustfully.

"Enough." Gran jabbed the boy in the ribs with his elbow, no need to turn things sour before anything could be talked over.

Bon grumbled as he nodded towards the house and began walking.

Arlong didn't immediately follow but finally gave in when the girl gave him another pleading look, what the hell, it couldn't hurt to listen. He walked a few paces behind the one eyed man, when he entered the home he found that everything was built to accommodate the girl but not so tall that the man couldn't use the home as well. The open layout of the home actually seemed comfortable to him… he shut the door behind him, eyeing her one last time and the soft smile on her lips before the door closed completely and the two men were alone.

Bon set the tray down on the counter and turned back to his… guest. "Needless to say we don't like each other and I can safely say that opinion won't be changing anytime in the near… well, let's just say never." He sat down in the cushioned chair and directed the larger man to the sofa in front of him. "But how much do you like belli?"

He arched a brow as he sat down on the soft furniture, his body sinking into the cushions as he extended his arms out along the back of the sofa. "You have my attention." Yes, it was clear these two hated each other but he did need to get his hands on more belli if he ever hoped to rebuild his empire.

He gave a nod as he leaned forward and opened a small box sitting on the coffee table. "As you've no doubt noticed this island and all of her inhabitants are far from your typical folk." As he talked he removed his gloves and pulled out two stone rings that he slipped onto his middle fingers. "Think of us as an island full of bounty hunters, we capture the fool pirates that come here looking for treasure. Usually the old man and me will take care of the heavy hitters, you guys for example." He added with a smirk as he sat back. "Collecting all those bounties is our main source of income here."

Arlong tilted his head to the side, so that's what their deal is. "And why would so many pirates be looking for a treasure here?" He questioned the statement, he clearly knew how strong the old man was and this man as well considering being able to brush off those hits that could level a building. "And how would they find an island that's not on any maps?"

"Because that's the rumor I've been spreading." He smiled wickedly at that. "An island in the west blue that sits beside the calm belt holds a treasure that can rival the one piece."

"Heh." The sharkman smirked, tricky bastard. "That's a pretty boastful claim."

"Yes…" He said with a sigh, while it has worked to bring in many bounties… "A little flaw has developed in our methods unfortunately. You proved that today."

"You mean by having that alone time with little sister." He said with a wide grin.

Bon's eyebrow twitched at that as he tightened his fist. "Yes." He said through clenched teeth. "My work used to keep me away for a few weeks at a time… now it's taking me months to get back home." He looked out the window were he could still see Lu talking to Gran and the other two fishmen and his heart ached. "I can't protect Lu if I'm not around."

Arlong's brow raised in curiosity, he could tell the man's feelings were sincere. He genuinely cared for the girl and that he could respect… to a certain degree but still. "Aside from pointing out how weak humans are and their inability to protect anything, what is the point you're trying to make." He made the comment sharper than it needed to be but he couldn't let himself get to friendly or understanding with this guy.

The remark earned the fishman a hard glare, so the stories on this guy's extreme bigotry weren't an exaggeration. "My point, is that I want to pay you to stay on this island." He stood up with a growl, he still didn't like the idea but damn it all to hell if it wasn't a good idea. "Help to protect the island while I'm away."

"Shahahahahaha!" He roared into laughter at that. "Do I look like a 'protector' to you? Especially for a bunch of human?"

"No, you look like a damn pirate that loves Belli and I'm not gonna pay you to protect the humans, I'm paying you to protect Lulu!" He shot back. "If there were better options present then I'd take them, you really think I enjoy the idea of paying you're type to be around my little sister!"

Arlong stood abruptly, towering over the other man, there it was again. That damn phrase that told him how this guy really felt about his kind. "That's the second time you've said 'you're type'… if you got a problem with fishmen then…"

"I don't give a damn about your species!" Bon interrupted him. "Hu-MAN, Fish-MAN, Beast-MAN! The reoccurring problem is you're all MEN!"

He rubbed the bridge of his saw nose with a grumble, the girl did say he was protective but this was way beyond all that. "You really think I'd hurt her?"

"I think you'd try a lot more than that!" Bon yelled. "You saw her!" He flung his arm outwards towards the front of the house. "She's gorgeous! She perfect in every way and clearly the most beautiful thing on this island! She's gentle and sweet and caring…"

Arlong arched a brow as the man rambled on, he really did love her but damn was he obsessive. She might have been cute but he doubted she was as hyped up as this guy was making her out to be.

"And you!" Bon thrust a finger towards the man abruptly. "Are just the type that would prey on her innocence!"

"Innocence?!" He bellowed with a large hearty laugh. "Shahahahahahaha!" That was a good ending to his little rant, he couldn't help but laugh. "She looks old enough to make her own decisions and too old for you to be worrying about her 'innocence' anyways."

Bon growled a little. "You don't have a sister do you." He said with a touch of venom in his voice.

Arlong's eyes got a little wide at that remark, his mind wandering to Shyarly… it had been a very long time since he doted over her like this man did for the girl outside… He grunted to himself as he turned away to hide the scowl on his face. "Back to point… If, and that's a big if, we stay then where would you have us stay? Down in the village with all the other humans playing nice?"

"Hmph…" Bon crossed his arms in front of him, so the big guy did have a sister. "Far from it." He answered as he made a whistling sound to catch the other man's attention. "Literally."

"Eh?" He turned to see him pointing to a large map of the island.

"On the back side of this island, running right on the calm belt, is an abandoned Marine base. Considering its location there's more threats from Sea Kings attacking, it's too much for my people to deal with it on a regular basis but I'm certain you and your people can handle it."

"Why is there an abandoned base here?" He asked as he eyed the map carefully, not a lot of roads on this island… there's one main path that runs from the village, right passed this house and to the base…

"Because long ago in a land far far away…. Why the hell does it matter?!" Bon rolled his eyes.

He growled slightly. "Because I don't want the surprise of a random visit from the Marines."

Bon sighed heavily, suppose he has a point there. "My grandfather bought this place from the Navy, they had bigger issues to deal with than trying to run a base on a no name island like this one."

"Interesting…" Arlong held his chin in thought, a base like that would offer them plenty of security and no doubt it had a large enough dock… it'd be as good as anything to start rebuilding his fleet… "And what would you pay me for these… services?"

"200 million Belli… a month." He considered the price, it wasn't too much… have to eye the books later to manage it into the islands budget…

His jaw went slack, he tossed out that number like it was chump change.

"If that's not enough for a greedy bastard like yourself then I'll even sweeten it." He tapped his chin with a sigh, what else was there… he didn't want too nice to em… "How does, taking a cut of the treasure procured from the pirate ships?"

"Hmmmm…." It all sounded much too good… "What's the cut?"

"25% for you, that belli does go to support this island so I can't be too generous."

"45%" He countered. "It's never good to accept the first offer, any proper businessman knows that."

Bon smirked, smart man. "35 is as high as I'll go."

"Heh…" He wasn't bad at negotiating… Arlong mulled over the thought, was he seriously talking this over? Letting himself be hired by this human?... But damn was it a good deal… "What do you do with the pirate ships?"

"Sell them usually." He waved off the question. "Sometimes we keep the smaller ones, we have no use for large ships."

The fishman was intrigued by that, ships can go for a pretty good price… but they interested him in different ways. "Let me have my pick of the ships and you'll have a deal."

"You want the ships?" Bon arched his brow, he was being pretty generous as is but giving him those ships would put quite the hit on the islands income. "And what exactly do you want the ships for?"

Arlong grinned. "You know who I am, so you should already know the answer."

He smirked at that, the guy had ambition. Yes, he had heard about this pirate's previous attempt at taking over the East Blue. A stunt that doesn't go unnoticed. "You failed in the East, the weakest ocean out of the four, and want to try taking over the West Blue huh?"

He snarled at that remark, his embarrassing defeat still fresh in his mind. "You got a problem with that?"

Bon shook his head with a chuckle. "Not in particular, just as long as you don't cause any trouble for this island I don't give a damn what happens to the rest of the West Blue." He took a few steps closer to the man. "But about those ships, I'll let you take whichever ones you want in exchange for your cut of the treasure for that raid. I can't be too generous now." He said with a grin as he extended his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

This guy was pretty good with business… damn, he still couldn't believe he was doing this. "It's a deal." He took the other man's hand and shook on it, who would've thought this would happen.

"Well then." He released the man's hand with a big smile. "I hate the idea but Lu will be happy. Let's go tell her, hm?"

Arlong rolled his eyes at the stupid grin on the man's face now, he'd make a deal with the damn devil himself if it would make that girl happy.

Bon went to and opened the door, stepping out and calling to his sister as he did. "Lu sweety! We're…" Before he could finish the sentence he looked down to see Lu, the old man and the two fishmen crouching beside the door as if they had been trying to listen in. He stepped to one side as the vein in his forehead started to throb. "What have I told you about eaves dropping!" He yelled as he glared at all of them in turn.

The question was directed to the two native islanders but all of them offered up a nervous laugh.

Lu tapped the tips of her index fingers together as she timidly kept her eyes from meeting her brothers. "If I'm going to do it I shouldn't get caught… right?"

"Exact… wait." Bon paused as he arched a brow. "Did I really say that?"

"Sounds like you." Gran mused as he lit another heaping of tobacco to puff on.

"So…" Lu quickly changed the subject before they could start another argument. "Are you gonna let them stay for a little while?"

He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, we made a deal…"

"Yay!" Her loud reaction interrupted him and she shifted enough to dive forward and tackle her brother affectionately.

Arlong exited the home just in time to inadvertently block the sister's playful hug and found himself in a very awkward position as her arms wrapped around his waist while she blindly nuzzled her face dangerously close to his man bits. "Ah…Uh…" He froze as he tried to figure out what to do.

The other men had their jaws in the dirt as she continued to rub her face with a torrent of joyful giggles into what she thought was her brother's stomach…

"LULU!" Bon finally managed to scream, his body had seized up from the initial shock of seeing her like that and it took all his effort to call out to her.

"Huh?" She finally opened her eyes when she heard her name being yelled, her gaze focusing on blue skin a few mere centimeters away from her face. Before she could say anything else there was a resounding 'crack' from Bon's fist connecting with her head followed by him dragging her away from the fishman, the bump on her head growing as she rubbed it with a tear in her eye.

Comically He pulled out a conveniently created poster board with the outline of a man on it and multiple 'X' marks over the nether regions of the outline, he slammed his fist against the picture as she knelt in front of him apologetically and he screamed "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" repeatedly to the rhythm of his pounding hand.

Gran chuckled to himself as he watched the display with the other fishmen, he noted how Arlong's cheeks were still flushed from the encounter. This was going to turn out to be an interesting arrangement.

Bon sighed as he rubbed Lu's head apologetically, it had already been a long day… "Let's go see Mom and Dad." He said softly. "Gran, can you take these… Gentlemen back down to the village. Release his men and explain what's going on."

"Of course." The old man gave a nod as he waved to the fishmen to follow him. "Give my regards to your parents."

"Of course." Bon said as he stood up, his eyes darting over to the brush as he put his hands on his hips. "BAS!" He yelled the name abruptly and startled everyone.

Gran looked around at the mention of his grandson's name, when did he get here?

"Aw man…" The voice came from the bushes that Bon was staring at. "I thought hiding my presence all the way from the village would've worked." Bas stood up and stepped out while scratching his head.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before you can hide your presence from me kid." Bon replied as he crossed in arms in front of him with a frown. "And what have I told you about spying?"

"If I'm gonna do it then don't get caught." He said in a tone that sounded like he's been through this lecture about a million times before.

"Exact… wait."

Gran tapped the ash out of his pipe as he gave the one eyed man a sideways glance. "What exactly are you teaching this kids?"

Bon ignored the comment as he eyed the bundle on the boy's back. "You brought my bag?"

"Yea!" The boy responded brightly as he swung the pack off his back and handed it over. "Figured you'd need it for sis."

"Ah." He took the bag with a smile. "As a matter of fact I do." He reached into the pack for a small bundle that fit in the palm of his hand, then removed the ring on his left hand. The moment he touched the package with that hand it popped with a bit of smoke back to its original size which was three times larger. He handed the gift to his sister then replaced the ring. "Here Lu, go and put this on before we see them."

"Ooooooh, thank you Bon!" She kissed his cheek and ran excitedly inside the house.

Arlong watched the trick with a scrutinizing look, the man must have been a devil fruit user. That was the only explanation he could think of, which meant the gloves he wore and those rings must have sea prism stones on or in them.

"Come on then." Gran waved to the fishmen so they could follow. "I'll explain his power to you as we walk." No sense in trying to be secretive about it and he saw the curious look on their faces.

"I'll run ahead!" Bas chimed in. "I'll give everyone the heads up." He bolted before his grandfather could offer up an argument, he was really excited now because nothing like this had ever happened before. His crew is going to be so excited when they hear about this!

The old man just shook his head at the boy's youthfulness and carried on at a casual pace, he wondered if the rest of the villages would be as excited as the boy about all this…

Arlong looked back after a bit to make sure they were a good distance away from the house. "So are you going to explain that devil fruit or not?"

"I suppose I said I would." Was his reply. "Bon ate the Tiny Tiny fruit when he was younger, silly lad thought it was a cherry…" He chuckled to himself a little, that was one hell of a day. "Everything he touches with his right hand shrinks; it will continue to do so until he lets go but it only takes one touch from his left hand to return it to normal. That's why he wears the gloves embedded with sea prism stones and those rings made out of the stuff, it's not a power he can turn on and off."

Interesting… the shark man was a little intrigued by it, a power like that could even cause him some trouble considering a shrunken fishman would lose his height and strength advantage… no wonder they seemed so calm, they weren't threatened in the least with that guy around… now that really pissed him off, the idea that humans could disregard them so easily…

A small part of him was starting to wonder if he was going to regret making this deal.

 **To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter 3

Arlong stared into the mug he was holding, the dark amber liquid catching the light of the fading sun, his mind still mulling over everything. The day had gone by quickly once he returned to his men, the old man was true to his word when he said none had been hurt which was a mild relief but now an unsettling feeling churned in his stomach. He had explained the deal to his men which didn't receive an entirely favorable response, not that it really surprised him but still.

Now the damn humans were throwing a friggin party to celebrate… He didn't understand it and he really didn't like it. What the hell did they have to be so happy about… this deal hardly even benefited them.

Gran sat beside the large shark man, both had been quiet for a while but that didn't stop them from down quite a few mugs of Bala bala honey wine. It took a moment for him to talk to the town folk and explain what was going on but they accepted it a lot easier than the fishmen. The old man drank his cup till it was empty then set it down with a ' _thunk'_ on the stool beside him that he was using as a table. "What the matter son?" He lit his pipe as he sat back a little. "Mead not to your liking?"

Arlong gave the Oldman a sideways glance. "Don't call me that." He hated hearing those words, especially if it was a human saying it. "Why are you throwing this party?"

He chuckled at a few children running past excitedly before turning his attention back to the fishman. "Why not? A good deal has been struck and out little treasure will be happier than ever with you boys around."

"Your 'little treasure'?" He arched a brow at that, what was he talking about?

"Mmhm." He said as he gave a nod to a young lass that was making rounds to fill empty mugs. "That's another name for the sweet child."

"Sister Lulu." The girl said as she finished filling the big fishman's mug. "That's who you mean right Gran-Ba?"

He gave her a big smile. "Indeed it is."

Arlong watched the exchange and how they both smiled so stupidly while talking about the girl. "Why do you people call her such things?"

The girl tilted her head to one side and gave him a bewildered look. "You have met her, haven't you?"

Gran waved off her question. "He has, he just doesn't know her like we do."

"Well, you'll see then." She smiled to him and gave them both a little curtsey before moving on.

The shark man gave a little grumble; he wasn't entirely sure if he was being mocked or not.

A loud laughter rang out and all eyes went to the path where two very familiar faces were walking towards everyone.

"Now THIS is how I should always be greeted!" Bon said loudly as he stretched his arms out wide, he had left his trademark vest at home so his bare scar ridden chest was exposed for everyone.

"Put a shirt on!" A man yelled from off to the side.

"You're making Miss Lu look bad!" Another shouted, followed by laughter from all around.

"Ha!" Bon laughed back. "As if I could ever do that." He stepped to the side and held out his hand for her to take as she came into the light more so everyone could see her.

Lu smiled as she held his hand and looked around, everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves… well, almost everyone. A lot of the fishmen seemed really uncomfortable still… hopefully they'll open up soon…

Arlong's eyes got a little wide as she made her entrance, she was no longer wearing those rags from before. Now she had on a white lace sundress that stopped just above her knees and she must have bathed because she wasn't covered in soot anymore.

"Ah, she's so pretty." A collection of compliments sounded out with the 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the islanders. "Bon always picks out the best fashion for her."

She blushed a little as she walked over to Gran and the shark man. "Hello." She said shyly, she couldn't help blushing a little with all the other looks the fishmen were giving her. She was used to the way the islanders looked at her but those guys… were all blushing too.

"Ah!" Gran exclaimed. "You look absolutely lovely sweet child."

"Chuu…" A familiar sound came from behind them and they looked up to see Arlong's two companions from before. "Beautiful." Chew said with a smile and held up a daisy he had picked from a windowsill pot.

"Thank you." She blushed even more as she took the flower, their hands lingering on the stem for longer than needed. He was always being so sweet to her.

"Oye, oye, oye!" Bon glared at the larger man as he separated the two. "No getting ideas!" Damn, he couldn't let his guard down for a moment around these guys.

"Sis! Sis!" A group of young girls surround her, tugging gently on her dress.

"We need to get you ready!" A brown haired girl in pigtails said.

"Yea! You gotta do the dance!" Another little girl with a missing front tooth said.

"The Maiden's dance!" They all cheered together as the danced around the fish woman happily.

The three natives arched a brow in unison. "Oh?" Was the combined inquiry.

"Oye now little ones." Bon knelt down, petting their heads affectionately. "That's a special type of dance that we only do once a year."

"We know." The first girl spoke up as she blushed at Mr. Bon's hand on her head. "But today's a really special day isn't it?"

"It is, it is." The other girls agreed

Arlong gave a questioning grunt. "What's so special about this dance?"

An older woman came over, swaying her hips a little as she walked. "It's a dance that all the unwed women of marrying age do."

Another woman came over and slipped her arm around Bon's to stand him up next to her. "It's to announce which ladies are still up for grabs." She said as she gave his firm rear a little pinch.

"Woah! Hey now!" Bon said blushing as he escaped her grasp and hid a little behind Gran. "Like I said, we only do it once a year and it's not spring yet."

"He's right ladies." Gran said with a grin towards the women's teasing, Bon was rather popular with the women but he was already spoken for… well, sort of.

"But Gran-Baaaaaa." The brown haired acting leader of the girls spoke up. "This is super special!"

"It is! It is!" The chorus rang again.

Lu smiled softly as she pet the girls in turn. "But why is it so special?"

"Because Lulu darling." The first woman spoke again as she pulled Bon from his hiding spot behind the old man. "Look at all these handsome new suitors." She shot the blue skinned blonde a wink.

The second woman moved to Lu's side and gave her a playful bump with her hip the pushed her a little closer to the black haired fish man. "One of these fine gents ought to be able to make you into a proper wife."

The collection of fishmen blushed almost as heavily as Lu at those words.

"M…Me? A…ah… A wife?" She cupped her burning cheeks to hide them. "Y… You think… I… could be…"

"Oye!" Bon crossed his arms infront of him to make an 'X' "Not gonna happen!" He escaped the woman's clutches once again. "You damn hens keep my baby sister out of your fantasies and to yourselves."

The two women gave him a mischevious grin. "Now how do you expect us to do that with all these attractive roosters pecking about?" They grabbed onto his arms and yanked him forward to be in between them.

"Aaaaaah!" Bon gave a 'please help me' look as he struggled to free himself from the ladies, persistent old bats! "I… ah… I heard somebody call my name, gotta go!" He weaseled his way free and made a 'B' line for the man with the barrels of Honey wine, he turned back just enough to yell "Don't touch my sister!" before returning his attention to his escape.

The little gathering laughed at his frantic retreat. "You ladies shouldn't tease him so much." Lu said with a smile. "You know he only has eyes for Big sis Abby."

"We know." They laughed. "But he makes it so easy."

"Now come on." The first woman said as she took the fish woman's hands affectionately. "Let's get you ready sweet heart."

Lu conceded and let herself be led away by the women and collection of girls, no sense trying to fight it when they all have made up their mind.

Kuroobi, who had been watching everything quietly, finally spoke up. "Those two are very popular." He was still amazed by how much the villagers fawned over the girl. "And your people are… ah… very accepting of us." He diverted his gaze from a woman across the way that winked at him.

Arlong scowled to himself, he hated it. All these damn human females fawning over his brothers as if they were good enough for any of them… it made him sick just to think about it.

"Chuu… I don't mind the attention but why do all the ladies make such a fuss over Lu-chan. A few of them have made a point to… tell me about all her good points."

"I experienced the same." Kuroobi said a little confused by it all. "It's almost like they are trying to sell her to us."

Arlong growled at that but his angry words were thwarted by the rayman holding up his hands apologetically at his poorly chosen words.

"Ah." Gran said as he took a deep drink from his mug. "They are trying a bit too hard aren't they?"

"What do you mean?" The shark man asked a little curious now.

"You see…" He stroked his chin for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Lu is lonely; the sweet child hides it so well but we still see it. All of us want to see her happy and smiling but none of us can give her what she wants."

"Chuu… and what's that?"

The Oldman chuckled a bit at that. "You gentlemen will have to figure that out for yourselves."

Just then the music changed tempo and the sound of bells filled the area as a train of women made their way to the bonfire that burned in the center of town just a little way away from the group. The ladies took a step then spun one way, took another step and turned again. Each one had a string of bells tied around an ankle that jingled as the foot came down, the women clapped their hands and spun once more then skipped forward and back. They all knew the dance by heart and smiled brightly and they spun and bounced on their toes to the beat.

Arlong's eyes watched her, she stood out among the human females considering she's a foot taller than them all. Even without the height he was certain he'd spot her, the way the fire played off her pink skin as she twirled about doing that weird tribal looking dance with flowers tied into her hair… He had to admit… She did look good.

Around them the villagers began to smile and clap along to the beat, murmurs here and there started up as people began talking about how lovely the dancers are.

"Chuu… There are a lot of single women of age on this island." He remarked as he watched the dance, Lu-chan dipped down and spun once again, raising her hands above her head as she rose. It was a great dance to watch.

Gran gulped down his mug again with a smile. "That we do. This island doesn't get many… non-hostile new comers and suffice to say that means there's just not enough suitors for these fine ladies. It's why we have this dance, having a family is important to everyone here and children are precious to us." He sighed a little as he took a few puffs from his pipe. "But we just don't have the numbers to diversify the bloodlines, which is also why there just aren't very many people that live here anymore."

"Chuu… So why don't you leave the island and find mates that way?" Chew asked, the topic was mildly interesting to him. For humans, these people weren't terribly unattractive...

"Ah…" A few more puffs of smoke escaped the corner of his mouth as his eyes traveled over to where Bon stood clapping with that big stupid grin of his. "A few have before… last person to leave was the sweet child's older sister and Bon's twin. Ran off to join the marines but it didn't work out… and she never came home." Another sigh came out as he remembered her, the last time he even saw Temperance was eight years ago. She came home after Bon found her and gave her the news about the raid, those two fought and she never came back, although he knew full well that she still sent letters to little Lu. Those two girls had a secret but hell if he knew what it was. "A few of the men on Bon's ship have wives out in other oceans and the grandline, his work sends him everywhere and with the fastest ship and some very understanding women those guys have made it work."

Kuroobi felt his cheeks get a little red as a few of the dancers smiled to him and gave him a wink, his own eyes lingered on Lu for a moment as she arched her back and reached above her head with a smile. The dance was quite provocative and she looked… rather appealing. "Is this desire to have children why your women are so… flirtatious?" He asked as he motioned towards a woman pouring one of his ship mates a drink and whispering something into his ear as she pointed towards a dancing girl, whatever is was must have involved the current topic at hand considering how much he was blushing.

Gran laughed at that. "You gents can think what you will of us but we don't discriminate here and with your Captain making the deal and you all living here on the island now I dare say the ladies are excited about having such fine men around."

Arlong let out a loud growl as he stood abruptly and left the little gathering, his stomach was churning and it wasn't from the sweet alcohol. The idea of humans trying to have intimate relationships with fishmen disgusted him and the fact that the majority of his crew didn't seem the least bit bothered by the idea made it worse.

Bon eyed the sharkman as he stormed off right past him, heading straight for the docks. Looked like the big guy wasn't too thrilled about the party… Hell, he wasn't either. To be honest he wished the villagers wouldn't have been this damn accepting but damn it all if the two groups weren't hitting it off.

Lu laughed with the other girls as the dance came to an end, she might have been reluctant at first but she did enjoy dancing. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked over to where the gathering was but Arlong was no longer there and no doubt her brother would've run off by now. He hated the next part of the dance.

The old man set his mug and stood up, stretching his back out a little. "All right gentlemen, time for part two." He said while doing a few more stretches.

The two remaining fishmen exchanged confused looks just as Lu came over to them. "Mr. Kuroobi, will you dance with me?"

"Wha…What?!...M…Me?!" He stuttered a little shocked as she took his hand, still smiling at him.

She giggled a little. "Yes, you." She gave his hand a little playful pull. "After the maiden's dance comes the Suitor's dance, all the single men pair with the maidens. We dance for a bit then everyone switches partners; we keep doing it until the song is over."

Gran chuckled as one of the little girls from before came over and took his hand, while this particular dance was just supposed to be for the single types there would be a ring of dancers around them doing it just for fun. Couples would dance, the old folks like him would dance with the little ones and even the young kids would pair up from time to time… Like what was happening to his grandson Bas as a little orange haired girl dragged him off.

Slowly everybody found a partner, the fishmen looked uneasy but soon everyone got into the swing of it as dancing partners chatted, blushed and laughed.

* * *

Arlong leaned against a post beside the dock, arms crossed in front of him as he stared out at sea, the longer they stayed here the more his stomach tied in knots.

"Don't like dancing either."

A voice behind him caused him to turn a little and eyed the lavender haired man, from there his eyes looked up and noticed the collection of islanders and his brothers awkwardly dancing. Then he saw the girl swaying side to side with the blushing Kuroobi who was staring at his own feet so he wouldn't step on hers… He gave a little growl and turned back around to face the sea again. "Not with humans." He hated it, humans used to fear them and now… they were dancing together… what the hell.

Bon gave a grunt as he took a swig from the bottle he had snatched up before leaving the party and leaned up against the neighboring post. "You can fight the idea as much as you want but our people are gonna mingle… hell, some of your boys might even get laid." He mumbled the last bit before taking another drink.

Arlong gave him a sideways glare. "Are you always this open about your people's personal lives?"

"Usually." He said nonchalantly as he turned just in time to see the dancers switch partners, Lu paired up with a purple skinned guy just a bit shorter than her. "Oye!" He yelled to the party goers. "Hands at the waist! I saw that!" He shook his head as he turned back around.

"Heh…" The shark man grinned. "And what will you do if your sister ends up being one of those women with one of my men?"

Now it was Bon's turn to give a glare. "I know her better than that, she's a good girl and doesn't do flings." He extended his arm and held out the bottle. "Thank god."

He arched a brow at the offer but accepted the bottle, drinking a few deep gulps. "What's wrong with enjoying a one night stand every now and again, you seem the type to do it." He tossed the bottle back.

"I have a wife for your information." He snatched the bottle as it came at him with a grumble, that was a half lie… Him and Abby weren't actually married but he was hers and she was his… if that made any sense. "I don't need anyone but her so you keep your lewd little runabouts to yourself." He took a swig and wiped his mouth. "And away from my sister too, you're not the type of man to give her what she wants."

"Eh?" That reminded him of what the old man said. "And what is it that she wants?"

"Heh." Bon smirked at that as he opened the locket hanging around his neck. "A family, she's seen me with mine and my twin sister has a little boy of her own…" One day, he hoped he could meet the kid… he missed his twin but he couldn't look past her becoming a damn pirate… he was so proud to know she joined the navy. Then she threw it all away… hell, look at him. Did he have any room to talk? Making deals with pirates…

"A family, huh." Arlong looked up towards the moon, his mind thinking about his own sister for a moment. He didn't even remember his own father's face… "A waste…"

He arched a brow at that sour look on his face. "Good to know you feel that way." He took another drink and handed off the bottle for the last time. "Now I know you'll never hook up with my sister and I don't have to worry about having little nieces and nephews with your funny nose." He pushed away from the post, it sounded like the song was getting over with and he wanted to dance with Lu.

That earned a little growl. "My nose isn't 'funny', it's a weapon." He Snatched the bottle away and finished it off.

Bon shrugged. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

He tossed the bottle away and followed after the man. "I think the first thing I'll teach little sister is about fishman bloodlines." He taunted the man as they made their way back up to the party. "We're not as limited as you, our children could even turn out to be mermaids if one of our ancestors were."

"Oye, oye, oye! Don't even talk like that! You and her ain't never having children, no way no how." Granted, he could only imagine how adorable a little mermaid niece would be… but not with that damn pirate as the father. Nope, nope, nope.

"Brother! Arlong-sama!" Lu yelled as she saw them coming back and waved happily. "You came back just in time! Chew-san is going to teach me a game called 'Suck & Blow'!" She waved a square piece of paper that Chew gave her for them to see. "Do you want to play?"

"He's trying to do what?!" Bon shouted as he took off in a dead run to snatch the paper away and shred it. "Where is he! Sneaky bastard!"

"Booooooon." Lu whined. "Why did you do that? I wanted to play the game." She pouted a little.

"ShaHahahahaha!" Arlong erupted into laughter. "Good luck trying to keep little sister 'innocent', ShaHahahaha!" He taunted with a renewed laughter at the death glare he received from that comment, the girl was growing more popular with his crew. He wouldn't be surprised if she did eventually pair up with one of them, which he didn't mind. Any of his men would be a good match for her… He shook his head and found a spot next to the old man, taking another mug full of their honey wine.

Family huh… he never thought about it before…

 **To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4

Lu hummed to herself as she worked, pounding her hammer into the steel with a happy little grin. It had taken a few weeks but things had settled down, the fishmen were moved into the old marine base but still had a lot of renovating they wanted to do and she had been trying to finish up this last sword for Bon's order…

"Hey there Lu." Just then Bon appeared in the window of her work shop, holding up the reed curtain with one arm. "Take a break, I brought you some lemonade."

"Ah, hello Bon!" She said smiling as she set down her hammer and rolled up the reed curtains, she liked to keep them down to keep the heat in the work shop but since she was taking a break the cooler air would be nice. "Thank you for this." She took the glass he handed to her and rested her elbows on the ledge as she sipped from the straw.

"You're welcome my sweet little Lu." He said smiling happily as he gave her a little pet. "You've been working for nine hours straight, if somebody doesn't stop you then you'd work straight through the whole day."

"Heh, sorry." She blushed a little as she scratched her head, she really had a bad habit of submerging herself in work. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed two fishmen coming into the path from the base. "Hello there!" She called out to them with a wave, she recognized them. Shioyaki, a pink skinned salmon fishman, and Batto, a green skinned fighting fishman. "Are you heading to the market again?"

"Hello there Miss Lulu!" Shioyaki waved to her and stopped for a moment, she was always greeting them when they came by and considering they had to walk past her house anytime any of them needed anything from town they saw her often. "Yes, we killed a sea king today. I was hoping to trade some of the meat for spices and some more cooking supplies."

"Oh wow!" She exclaimed. "You guys managed to kill one of those!"

Bon let out a little whistle as he leaned on the ledge next to his sister, that is a little impressive.

"Hehehe" Batto gave a wide toothy grin. "It was no big deal for the Arlong pirates!" He gave his chest a boastful pound with his fist but in truth it was a small sea king and it was the Captain and Kuroobi who did most of the work.

Bon rolled his eyes and turned back around to face his sister. Yep, they were full of it.

Shioyaki smiled. "You should come by for dinner tonight, we are having a banquet and I'm sure the Captain would be pleased to see you." Ever since they settled into the navy base Arlong hadn't come near this side of the island at all.

"Alright! I'd love to!" She responded quickly but paused when she saw Bon's grumpy face. "Uuuuh, I mean… If I get done with my work in time…"

"It's fine." He grumbled as he mumbled into his glass. "Damn pirates…"

"Don't be sad Bonbon!" Batto said loudly. "Arlong-sama said you can come too!" The two fishmen snickered a little.

"What the hell!" He yelled back, a vein throbbing in his forehead. "Don't call me that!"

The two men kept laughing as they walked off down the path with a wave. "See you later Miss Lulu!" They called as they continued to snicker at the string of cursing the human was doing.

"Bye Shio and Batto! See you tonight!" She waved happily and gave her biceps a rub to work out the soreness. "Best get back to it. This is the last sword I need to do for your shipment." She smiled, it was a big order this time and if he didn't send the order months ago in advance she would have never finished it in time. "But Bon…"

"Hmm?" He sipped the lemonade, still fuming a little over that stupid nickname. "What's the matter?"

She sighed a little. "You're gonna be gone for a really long time this time, aren't you?" He usually only stocked up like this when he planned to be out at sea for months but even then he never had an order this big, she had a feeling it might be a year before he got back home.

He frowned a little. "Yea… I'm going to the new world." He set down the glass with a sigh. "Something is going on there and I got a bad feeling…"

"A bad… feeling?... Do you mean… that Pirate… He's there, in the new world?" She hugged herself a little bit, she still had bad dreams about that night.

"Shhhh…" He sat up on the ledge to pet her hair and calm her. "Yes, he's there and so is Abby, Temperance and Terra." He didn't hear about any of them meeting up but Abby had been in the new world for a lot longer and there was no telling where that red haired psycho captain she was serving with had them at right now.

"Ah! Big sis Tempe? I didn't know…"

He grinned. "You really think I wouldn't keep tabs on her?"

That made her blush, she really had no idea. "Is she ok? And what about Hunter?"

"Both fine as far as I know." He scratched his head a little. "They bunked down on an island and have been staying under the radar." He was glad she did, for a while there she was gung ho on that man hunt for Faust… Something must have happened to get her to back off though…

"Where is Miss Terra at?" She was curious about that, they had been dealing with her for years now and helping her to hide the devil fruit she gathers but it had been awhile since she sent a package to them.

"Not sure yet, lost track of her after she left Water 7 and had us sell that zoan fruit for her." He still remembered when he met up with those shady characters to drop off the money at St. Poplar island. Still had no idea what her connection to them was… "Last I heard she hooked up with a band of crazy ass pirates."

"Pirates?" She finished off her glass of juice before setting it back down. "Considering how much you hate pirates; we certainly do know a lot of them."

"Yea yea." He waved that off, regardless of the fact she had a point. "Those guys don't seem too bad; they help people so… maybe they can be trusted… maybe."

"Oh?" She picked her hammer back up and gave it a twirl. "What are those pirates called? I'd like to know about good pirates."

He grabbed her glass and turned so he could head back inside. "I think… Mugiwara."

"Straw hats? That's a funny name." She smiled as she picked up the piece of metal she was pounding on earlier; it might be interesting to find out about them.

With that the sound of metal being pounded rang out again.

* * *

Kuroobi wiped the sweat from his brow as he took a break from his workout, his morning was hectic with dealing with the Sea King. The human was not lying when he said that there was a lot of them on this side of the island but it would serve as good training. He wanted to get stronger, his embarrassing defeat at the hands of that blonde haired human with the straw hat crew was still fresh in his mind. That combined with the ridicule he and the others faced during their imprisonment at impel down was too much for his pride to handle…

The bushes off to the side rustled and he arched a brow, it seemed that he had watchers and they liked to spy on him while training. They had been doing so for the last week but it was starting to get annoying. "Come out! I know you're there."

"Aw man!" A young boys voice came from the shrubbery. "I told you not to move around!"

A loud 'crack' sounded out and a familiar group of boys stood, a brown haired little boy rubbing the fresh lump on his head. "Ow Bas! You didn't have to hit me so hard!"

"Shut up!" He said as he put his hands on his hip. "It's your fault we got caught! Now how are we gonna learn fishman karate!"

"What?" Kuroobi arched a brow.

"That's right!" Bas pointed to the large fishman with a grin. "I'm gonna be a world class pirate Captain one day! So I'm gonna learn fishman karate and be the toughest Captain ever!"

The rayman couldn't help but smirk at that. "And what makes you think a little human can learn it? Let alone use it as efficiently as a fishman?"

"Because I can already use haki!" He shot back. "And with a master like you I know I can become the strongest ever!"

"Haki?" He questioned, he had heard of it but it was not a technique familiar to fishmen. If memory served there was three types; a type to enhance the body, another to enhance perception and the last to dominate another person's will… "Which can you use boy?"

"Busoshoku haki! The armament type!" He said proudly. "Let me show ya!" He tensed a bit, focusing his technique till half his hand became black from the armament coating. He could only coat his four fingers for now but he knew if he kept practicing every day he'd be just as good as his grandpa.

Impressive, Kuroobi thought as he watched the boy but he could tell he was still a novice from the way he strained just to harness this amount. "And why should I train you in a martial arts style best suited for fishmen and not humans?" He crossed his arms as he looked down on the little humans, he couldn't believe they'd be able to utilize his techniques at all with their frail little bodies.

"Uuuuuh." The collection of boys exchanged looks, none of them had a very good answer for that. After a moment Bas stepped forward putting his hands on his hips. "You know what!" He said in a defiant tone. "I can learn fishman karate! And I'm gonna be the strongest human ever so it won't matter what my species is!"

The boys around him smiled a little and took encouragement from him. "Yea! He's gonna be the best Captain ever!" A blonde haired boy said as he stood a little taller.

"And we're gonna be his crew!" The brown haired kid with a bump on his head smiled. "So that means we got to be tough so he can rely on us!"

Kuroobi smirked, spunky little brats… "I won't train you." He turned away and picked up a water bottle he had brought along. "But… you are welcome to watch me. I will not be held responsible for anything you learn on your own."

Bas just grinned. "You'll see Sensei! I'll be the strongest human you've ever seen!"

"I'm not your teacher so don't call me that." He responded with a frown to discourage them from being too friendly with him, he did wonder what skills the boy did have and if he was anything like his grandfather… it would be interesting to see.

* * *

Lu hummed to herself as she walked down the path leading to the old base, her brother followed closely but his steps were not nearly as light as hers. As she was washing up and getting ready she found that she was getting rather excited, she hadn't been to this side of the island since she was young and seeing the other fishmen again made her happy.

Bon sighed to himself as he trudged along, the only reason he was going was to make sure none of those bastards got any ideas. It made him dread leaving even more, as bad as it sounds he never had to worry about any of the islanders trying to hook up with her. He knew she was lonely so it made him feel a little guilty knowing that she'd never be able to find someone to be with her here on the island but that meant she'd be safe and nobody could take advantage of her.

"You're walking awfully slow Bonbon." She smiled as she gave a little twirl and started walking backwards. "Go any slower and the banquet will be over by the time we arrive."

"Tch!" He gave a little pout. "Don't start calling me that!" He blushed a little, while it was cute to hear her say it the fact it was a nickname given to him by those damn pirates made it unpleasant. "And we'll make it there just fine, it's not like they live that far away." Granted, he was purposely walking slower than normal but in his defense he was pretty sure she was walking faster.

She chuckled a little as she continued to walk backwards. "Do you think they'll like my dress?" She asks as she gave a little spin, it was the same style as the lace sundress she wore to the bonfire but this one was yellow. For some reason Bon didn't want her wearing white anymore.

He arched a brow at that. "Who are you trying to impress?" Maybe he could convince her to come with him this time… no, he knew full well she'd be safer here but… damnit.

"No one in particular." She said as she turned back around to walk normally. "I'm just happy to see them all again, I've been wanting to ask them so many questions." She started humming to herself again as she thought about it, she'd finally get to learn more about fishmen and merfolks.

He gave a little sigh then smiled, it had been a long time since he'd seen her this genuinely happy. He just wished it wasn't a bunch of pirates that made her this happy.

"Miss Lu!"

A voice called out to them from up ahead and she waved as they caught sight of two fishmen waiting on the path, these two were different than the ones she always saw walking past but she thought she remembered them from the party. "Hello there!" She smiled brightly as she ran up to them. "Uh… Take-san and Elver-san, right?" She looked at the carp-man and eel-man in turn.

They both blushed at her smile, she was such a cutie. "That's right Miss Lu." Elver said with a big smile. "I'm surprised you remembered us."

She gave a giggle at that. "I really wasn't sure if that was right." Luckily though, fishmen are so unique that it's easy to tell them apart. She didn't mean to make it sound bad but sometimes she thought that humans looked too similar.

Bon gave a grunt as he stopped beside her and crossed his arms, mildly insulted they didn't even acknowledge him. "Hey, hi, great to see you too." He said in a bland tone as he eyed the human sized grey skinned man and then the larger green guy with a gnarly tooth filled snout.

"shishishi." The Eel-man snickered at the sour look they were being given by the human. "Don't worry Bonbon, we were expecting you too."

A vein started to throb in his forehead. "Don't call me that!"

Take laughed loudly. "Arlong-sama wanted us to escort you to make sure you got to the base safely."

"Arlong-sama did?" Lu said with a little blush.

"That's right." Elver said as he held out his arm for her to take. "You're the guest of honor little sister, better safe than sorry."

Bon gave a little growl as he grabbed her wrist before she could slip it through the other man's arm and wrapped his own arm around hers. "You guys realize we've lived here our entire lives, right? There's nothing around here that would require an escort." He shot them a glare as he pulled her ahead of them so they could continue walking.

"Boooon" She whined a little as she gave the fishmen an apologetic look before bending down a bit to whisper in his ear. "Please Bon, try to get along."

He huffed a little but she was giving him that pleading wide eyed look of hers… damnit. He took a deep breath and calmed himself but left it at that, he was trying to be nice. He really was. It was just the way they all fawned over her, calling her 'sister' and eyeing her the way they do… damn… he gripped his face with his free hand, realizing what he was saying. The fishmen were treating her the same way the islanders do… but because they are pirates… he let out a sigh…

"What's the matter Bon?" She looked at him a little worried.

He offered up a weak smile. "It's nothing sweet heart." He patted her hand as he continued walking, he always thought he was a fair man but this little fiasco with these pirates was enlightening him in an unpleasant way. For her sake… he'd try harder.

"Ah!" She said with a large smile as the base came into view. "It looks so cool!" She exclaimed with a laugh as she let go of his arm to run ahead a little bit.

Bon let out a long whistle as he eyed the renovations, the base used to be a standard issue military port but these guys opened it up and even managed to dig the port in farther so a large extension of water ran further inland like a pool that went out to sea. "Impressive."

"We've been working on it since we got here." Elver said boastfully. "There's still a lot that Arlong-sama wants to do but it's starting to feel more like home."

"Yea." Take added with a big smile. "And with that sea king meat we got today we decided it would be a great time to start having parties again. It really helps moral."

Ahead of them the other fishmen took note of them and started calling out and waving, all of them excited to see Lu. Bon shoved his hands in his pockets and grumbled to himself as he was dismissed from the greetings once again, just had to keep telling himself. This was for Lu… play nice for Lu. "Hey!" he yelled at them. "Watch the hands! I saw that!" Damn pirate bastards.

Arlong looked over from his chair, a bunch of his men had gone to greet the newcomers but he kept his spot and silently watched as the human followed behind the girl. He was trying to let the festivities lift his mood but this whole arrangement still rubbed him wrong. Plus, more than half his men had already gotten comfortable dealing with the humans in the village. They were all adjusting just fine while he couldn't stand the thought of being around those damn humans at all, he didn't even feel the desire to take the short walk and mingle with the girl.

Bon snatched up a chair ad made his way next to the shark man, grumbling to himself as he sat down. "got booze?" He was gonna need something if he wanted to get through this little get together.

The larger man gave a little grunt as he reached down beside him and grabbed one of the numerous bottles he had resting beside him. "Rum from my ship, can't stomach too much of that sweet shit you drink." He tossed the bottle to the one eyed man before taking a swig out of the one he still had.

He caught the bottle with a smirk. "That reminds me, partner." He said the title with a little sneer. "I needed to talk to you." His eyes went to his sister, she had sat down on the opposite side of the pool and was promptly surrounded by a herd of the bastards bringing her plates of food to try.

Arlong gave him a sideways glare, he didn't quite like being called that. "About what, Bonbon."

That vein started throbbing again. "I hate you so much."

"Shahahahaha!" He laughed loudly. "I thought you wanted to talk to me about something new." One of his brothers came over with a plate of steaming sea king meat and he reached out to grab a large chunk of it.

"You're hilarious." Bon said as he followed suit, taking a chunk of meat and biting into it. The juices smeared across his chin and damn was it pretty tasty, it wasn't often he got to eat sea king meat. "I'm going… to be leaving in a few days… and it will be a long time… before I come back here." He said in between chews.

"So?" Arlong took another swig to wash down the meat as he sat forward to get another helping.

"So, I wanted to extend an invitation to your men." He reclined as he found a steaming potato to munch on. "With your permission that is."

He arched a brow at that. "What kind of invitation."

"Two things." Bon said, holding up the respective fingers to emphasize the point. "First, I'll take on requests for supplies. I'm heading into the new world so I can get a wider variety of goods you can't get from normal supply runs here in the west blue."

That would be interesting, Arlong grinned. There were plenty of things he and his men still needed but getting a shipment from the new world would take a while, still. "I can get a list put together by tomorrow." He reclined again with a fresh piece of meat, taking a large bite out of it as he mulled over what he would personally want. "What's the second thing?"

The man tapped his chin with a sigh, he was really still debating on the second one but what the hell. "I don't normally do this but I'm taking the traditional route to the new world, which means I'll be stopping off in fishman island."

The larger man stopped chewing when he heard that. "Meaning?"

"Meaning." He paused to take another swig, this rum was damn good stuff. "If any of your men want messages to be passed along then I might be inclined to do so, if any of them want to tag along then I might be able to house them as well… assuming they could be useful as temporary crew members." He kicked out his legs and went into full recline mode. "But keep in mind my ship is small and built for speed so you bigger guys might not like our poor little human sized accommodations."

He gave a grunt at that but the notion stuck with him, how many of his men would want to go? He wasn't sure if they'd be allowed to stay in fishman island considering their crimes but the possibilities of going home… how many of his men would be able to resist, even if it was for a short visit?

"What was your sisters name again? I'd love to pay her a visit." Bon said with a wicked little grin that interrupted the other man's thoughts and earned him a glare.

"She'd eat you alive." Arlong gave a little growl, he might not be that close to her anymore but that was still his sister. "And anything you do to Shyarly I'll do to little sister over there." He gave a wide toothy grin as he eyed the girl laughing with the other men.

"Tch!" Bon spat as he returned the glare. "That's not even funny, I was only kidding… probably has your funny nose anyways…" He mumbled into his bottle as he looked away… Shyarly huh…

He gave another growl. "There's nothing wrong with my nose!" He yelled a little.

"Bon, are you being mean again?"

The two men looked up to see Lu in the water in front of them, neither had realized she slipped into the pool and made her way across to their side. "No, just a little harmless teasing." He leaned forward and gave her a look though. "Why, pray tell, are you in the water?"

Just as he finished the sentence two other fishmen, one being the blue skinned kisser-fish, surfaced to either side of her. "Chuu…" He said as he leaned against the side of the swimming area with a grin. "An evening swim is good for the soul, care to join us?" He taunted.

"Hm, tempting but no." He gave the fishman a 'go fuck yourself' smile and sat back.

"Join us Arlong-sama." Lu said with a smile. "We're gonna have a race." She added that with a mischievous little grin.

"A race?" He asked with a peaked brow. "Didn't know we were having games tonight as well."

"Shishishishi." Elver surfaced to the other side of the girl with a grin. "It was Miss Lu's idea, she promised a kiss to anyone that beats her."

"WHAT?!" Bon choked on the rum he was drinking and started into a coughing fit. "The hell Lu!"

She blushed a little with a laugh. "Well, I didn't really say that, I said if anyone could beat me then I'd owe them one favor but they all decided that that's what they'd want." She said as her cheeks got even more rosy.

He let out a loud groan as he smacked his head in frustration. Deep breath, deep breath. It'll be ok, she's the fastest swimmer there is. He lost track of how many heart attacks she gave him out swimming the damn sea kings in the calm belt… but still. "Please don't tell me everyone is competing." He sighed heavily, please let Lu win, please let Lu win…

"No." She laughed. "I think it's only five of us so far, a pretty easy win if I do say so myself." She added with a 'matter of fact' smile.

Arlong couldn't help but smirk at that. "You seem pretty sure of yourself." He stood up while he cracked his knuckles. "I think I'll take part in it after all."

Bon's eye twitched a little, he did not like where this was going.

"Aw man." Elver said with a sigh. "There goes my chance at a kiss."

"Chuu, I think I can beat the Captain." Chew said with a grin.

"That's fine and all." Lu said with a smile as she swam back away from the edge of the pool. "But I'm the one you'll have to beat Chew-san."

Arlong dove in, stretching his limbs a bit beneath the water before surfacing. It had been a long time since he swam for the fun of it like this, as his head broke through the surface of the water he eyed the girl with a wide toothy grin. "Where are we racing to, little sister."

Bon gave a grumble as he went to the edge of the pool. "You guys see that rock out there?" He pointed to the mark jutting out of the water. "It's about a half mile out into the calm belt, get there and circle it then touch the end of your pool here." He pointed to the farthest point in. "First one to touch the lip wins, oh…" He gave the shark men a wicked look. "Do mind the Sea Kings out there, it would be a shame if anyone got eaten." He snickered as he walked to the end of the pool with a full bottle of rum in hand. "Come on boys, starting point is the same as ending point."

Lu smiled a little as she made her way to where Bon waited, she was glad that he was opening up a little more… in his angry sort of way. She looked up just to see Kuroobi going to stand next to her brother. "Want to join in the race?" She asked the ray-man with a big smile.

He blushed a little but shook his head. "No, I'll stay back and help judge who the winner is."

With that the racers lined up side by side, as much as Bon dreaded the idea of her possibly losing he couldn't miss the big grin she had on her face. She loved to swim so much but no one on this island could keep up with her… Until now.

Kuroobi gave a nod to one of his brethren off to the side that had a pistol on hand, the green skinned man came forward and counted down loudly. The shot rang out and the racers disappeared beneath the water, the ray-man could see the shadows but it was hard to tell who was who from above the water. Three of them pulled away quickly and entered the calm belt first. "Aren't you worried the Sea Kings will attack your sister?"

The man grinned as he took a deep drink from the bottle. "Nah, in all honesty they are usually asleep at this time… well, the bigger ones anyways. Plus, Lu has been swimming the calm belt ever since she was a kid. Drove us all batty with worry but she never was afraid and she out swam everything in that water."

The larger man nodded his acknowledgement, returning his attention to the light-hearted race. It was good to see the men being cheery again and he knew it was thanks to that girl, and even though the Captain would never admit it he knew that he was enjoying this as well.

Bon managed to empty half the bottle he had grabbed before they could see the swimmers closing in, man they were fast. A human would take half an hour just to reach that damn rock. He couldn't tell who was in the lead though, please be Lu, please be Lu.

"Here they come." Kuroobi leaned in to get a better view, he couldn't help but smirk as he saw Arlong's dorsal fin break the water just ahead of the others.

"Come on Lu!" Bon cheered her on, around them the others started to cheer as well as they really got into the surge of the race. They all broke the water and his sister and Arlong were in the lead with Chew close behind.

Everyone erupted in excitement as the swimmers came close, almost…

Lu pushed herself, she had to admit that she might have been a bit too boastful in the beginning. She had to go all out from the very beginning but she wouldn't lose.

Arlong grinned wildly, this was turning out to be exciting. They all had to dodge a couple hungry sea kings as well which really got their blood flowing and the girl, damn she was good. It really showed how out of shape he got having to fight to keep up and occasionally ahead of her. He'd have to fix that, he had to get stronger.

"HAHA!" Bon yelled triumphantly as Lu touched the edge of the pool, it was so close and he even thought that Arlong was going to touch first.

"So close." Kuroobi smiled, it was just by a mere second but the girl indeed touched first.

Lu laughed happily as she rested her head on her arms, her heart was racing and she never felt better. "That was great!" She exclaimed with a wide smile.

"Heh." Arlong lifted himself up to sit on the edge, he wasn't even disappointed in the loss. He actually… enjoyed that. "So what does the winner want?" He asked with a grin.

"Huh?" She gave him a blank stare. "I don't need anything." She smiled up to him. "I just really glad we could have fun like this."

"Chuu, then how bout the losers pay up?" Chew came up to one side of her.

"Yea, the same prize we were gonna get if you lost." Elver came up to her other side and gave his blue skinned friend a wink.

Together they stole a kiss on her cheeks, just a simple peck from them both but it caused her face to burn red.

"The hell!" Bon knelt down and swat at them but they dove back further into the water while laughing at him loudly. "Get back here you bastards!"

She covered her cheeks with her hands as she continued to blush, her heart pounding even heavier now.

Arlong touched her chin and lifted her face to meet his. "I won't argue paying my debt but it won't be a little peck." He teased, mainly to cause a rise out of the human. It was fun to piss him off.

"Hands off!" Bon gave a little snarl, he knew they were just doing it to get a rise out of him now… and it was working.

The other two swimmers came up and snuck kisses on her cheeks as well then dove back into the water as the human when to swat at them. "Shahahahahaha!" Arlong laughed loudly at their antics, if he spazed out any more the human was going in the drink.

"There he goes." Kuroobi observed as the man went head first into the water.

"Oh! Bon! Don't jump in like that, you'll drown!" She dove after him to pull him back up.

Laughter erupted all around them, it was turning out to be a great banquet.

 **To Be Continued….**


	5. Chapter 5

The town was bustling, Bon stood on the deck checking supplies and shrinking them down before they were loaded onto the ship. He wanted to make sure they had plenty of resources to handle any medical needs they might come across as well as plenty of food and water for the journey so he didn't have to spend too much before getting to the new world. Usually he would cheat and cut across the calm belt to get there like the navy did but since he wanted to go to fishman island he would have to enter the grandline…

"Bon!"

A familiar voice called out to him and he turned to greet her with a wide smile as he set down the clipboard he was using to mark down everything. "There you are." He eyed the cart she was hauling full of the weapons he asked her to make, he was going to need those to help make money on this trip since he wasn't planning on taking on any smuggling jobs… at least not until he entered the new world. "Let me give you a hand."

She smiled as she came to a stop. "It's fine, I had help." She motioned her head to the group of boys that were 'helping' her by pushing the cart.

"Ah, I'm a little jealous you have a whole team of gents to help you." He said jokingly as he ruffled Bas's hair.

The boy tried to swat the large hand away to no avail. "Come on Bon! Can't you see I'm busy helping big sis." He wiped the sweat from his brow, this cart was really heavy but she was pulling it one handed.

"And you're doing a wonderful job." She said with a smile. "All of you boys are."

Bas and his crew blushed a little at that.

"If you wanted real help, you should have asked. Little sister."

The group turned to see a group of fishmen being led by Arlong walking towards them, Bon gave a little scowl at his comment. "What brings you to this side of the island?"

The shark man held up a bundle of papers. "The supplies we are needing." It took him longer than he planned to get the list together but he didn't realize just how much they were lacking.

Bon took the papers and flipped through them, damn was there a lot. "Fair warning, don't expect to get everything."

"I know better than to expect that much from a ship full of humans." He said as he crossed his arms, eyeing the men loading things onto the ship.

That comment earned him a growl and if Lu didn't step in than Bon was about to give him more than a piece of his mind. She sighed a little as she casually stepped in between the glaring match. "What do you have there Kuroobi-san?" She asked the ray-man as she eyed the neatly tied square bundle in his hands.

"Letters." He stepped forward and handed them to her brother. "All of the men have someone at home, they are grateful to be given the chance to contact them."

She looked at the package a little sad, she knew how much it hurt to miss the people you care about. "Was anyone going to travel with Bon?"

Two fishmen stepped forward, they were both almost human size but still taller. "We are." A purple skinned man said as he adjusted a pack he was carrying. "More of the men wanted to go but none of us know what has happened to fishman island since we left. We don't know if… if…"

"If any of the Arlong pirates are allowed to return home." The other, a brown skinned one, finished.

"I'm only allowing these two." Arlong waved them on to go ahead. "So they can find out what happened to the island." It was a pain in the ass, so many of his men wanted the chance to go back and see their home but he didn't want to risk his people getting arrested the moment they arrived. "Take care of my men." He eyed the lavender haired human with a frown, he was less than pleased about having to trust a human with the lives of his men but aside from going himself there wasn't much he could do and he had no desire to return to the island himself. "A word." He directed the man away from the group to talk in private.

"Bon followed with a grumble. "I swear if you start telling me how to do my job…"

"Shut up." The larger man interrupted him with a growl of his own.

Lu tilted her head as she watched them, they were out of ear shot but it was plain to see they were bickering back and forth.

"Chuu, these are impressive."

She looked over to the cart and saw that Chew was eyeing the weapons she made. "Thank you." She smiled a little, she really was proud of herself this time.

Kuroobi lifted a trident up, the craftsmanship with high quality. He really wasn't sure about her claim of being a blacksmith but he rescinded that thought now that he got a chance to inspect her work. "Tch!" He hissed a little as he touched the blade, the edge slicing the finger he carelessly grazed the metal with.

"Careful!" Lu grabbed his hand a pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket.

His cheeks started to burn as she pressed the fabric to the cut. "You don't have to, it's just a small cut."

"Hush." She admonished him as she turned to the boys. "Could you fetch me some water and a bandage please?" She returned her attention to his hand as the boys jogged off to do as she asked.

"OYE!" Bon yelled from across the way. "Hands off!"

Arlong gave a grumble, it was obvious that she grabbed Kuroobi's hand but this human was blaming his brother like he was some lecher. He watched the exchange between the girl and his man, she seemed oblivious to how red he was getting by her fawning over the little nick. His attention darted to a group of humans that made their way over to talk to his brothers, some were flirting females who had taken an interest in the men and to his disgust it seemed as if they had started to take a liking to the women in turn… It made his stomach lurch.

"So what did you want." The other man huffed as he crossed his arms, trying not to pay attention to the exchange of his sweet little sister and that damn ray-man.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, holding it in front of him for the man to take. "Deliver this to Shyarly. The other letters you can give to the post master but I want you to give this to her directly." He didn't like the idea of this human paying his sister a visit but he didn't want to reveal where he is to anyone on the island, he told all his men not to mention him for their own safety. They could very well still be welcomed home but he knew he was well beyond that right.

Bon took the envelope and eyed it, so he did have some semblance of feelings after all. "And where do I find this sister of yours?"

"Ask around, she's popular." He waved off the question and walked away, heading back to his group so they could leave and return to the base. He was already sick of being in this human village.

He gave a grumbled to the shark man but shoved the letter into his pocket regardless. "Alright boys!" he called out to his crew and as well as the two fishmen that would be tagging along. "I want to be out to sea in thirty minutes!"

Lu watched her brother pick his clipboard back up and go back to work shrinking their supplies, she knew he'd want to get to the weapons last so she laid out the burlap sheets and began to sort and roll the weapons into their own bundles for shrinking.

Arlong watched her and the rest of the town work to prep his ship with supplies, this whole place accommodated him entirely too much. Once him and his men leave he wondered what they'd do with themselves. "Little sister." He leaned against the cart as she continued to work. "Will you come to the base again tonight, we are having another banquet."

"Hm?" She looked up to him, she always had trouble looking into those piercing eyes of his. "I… um, I would like that… but…" She blushed a little, Bon would hate it if he found out she was visiting them without him around… but he was going to be gone for so long. Maybe she should invite them for dinner at her house instead… Oh, but that would make Bon super mad as well…

"But?" He questioned, she looked a bit unsettled. "Worried about what your brother might say?" He teased, she held too much stock in what that human had to say. "You should know we'd never hurt you, little sister. I promise, you will always be safe with us."

She chewed her lip a little as she looked back towards her brother, it would be alright… wouldn't it? She took a deep breath, yes. It would be fine. She believed Arlong would never hurt her and it would really help for them to all get to know each other better. "I'd love to." She smiled at him.

He returned the smile with his wide toothy grin, touching her chin again. "I look forward to it."

"Oye!" Bon yelled at him. "Get your grubby paws off!" The pencil he was holding snapped in two as he clenched his fist, damn that fishman. Couldn't even turn his back for a second.

"Tch!" Arlong growled a little and turned to leave, waving his men to follow. Although they were reluctant to leave their conversations they did listen and obey, damn did that piss him off. Stinking humans thinking they were good enough for his brothers.

Off to the side Gran watched the entire scene quietly, most notably the scowl on the shark-man's face as he turned his back to the village. There was a lot of resentment there, his hatred for humans ran deep… the old man gave a sigh as he puffed on his pipe. What to do…

Bon came over and eyed the bundles of weapons she was prepping for him, his eye going to those rosy cheeks she was trying to hide. "Don't get too close to them Lu." He said sternly, he still didn't fully trust him and he damn well didn't trust their intentions with her.

"But…"

"Please don't argue this." He interrupted her as he knelt down, putting a hand on her head and giving her a pet. "Call it a brother's intuition… I just don't want them to hurt you."

She sighed a little. "They won't." She knew her argument held no value and she couldn't explain it herself but… she just knew.

"Please Lu." He said it softly as he stood, giving her a final pat on the head. "I'll do my best to bring you back a bunch of stuff from fishman island." He changed the subject as he slipped off the ring and began to shrink down the bundles she already finished.

With a sigh she offered up a faint smile, she knew arguing with him over this was useless. "I'd like that."

The sun was high now and made the day pleasantly warm, Lu sat on the edge of the cliff with one leg dangling over as her brown eyes stared out to sea. Bon's ship had disappeared a long time ago but she still sat and watched just as she did every time he left.

It hurt, knowing she wasn't going to be able to see him again for a very long time… with a sigh she raised her panpipe to her lips and breathed out gently, a melody forming that was carried to the island below her from this highest point. She would have a lot of time on her hands now and this always helped to ease the pain… even if just a little.

Kuroobi paused, maintaining his stance as a sound drifted to his ears… what was that?

Bas and the other boys who were mimicking the ray-man's work out paused as well when they heard the familiar music. "Big sis…" The fiery headed youth looked towards bumble peak, even though he couldn't actually see it he knew that's where she was.

The man looked at the boys who were all gazing in the same direction, he heard him refer to the girl. Was she the one creating this music? He followed their gaze as he frowned, this tune…

"Hmmm…." Gran looked up to bumble peak, he could barely see her outline but he knew she was there.

There were other fishmen in the village right now, most were doing some trading but there were one or two visiting for leisure. They looked around as the entire village seemed to pause and took note of the melody, many of the humans stopped what they were doing and closed their eyes to listen.

What was this feeling they were experiencing?

Arlong arched a brow as he looked around, he didn't know where the song was coming from but it got everyone's attention. He looked over to where a handful of his brother's stood, stopping the renovating they were doing to lean against each other… and where they… crying?

"Chuu…" The familiar voice chimed from beside him. "What a sad song." Chew wondered who was playing, none of them had heard such a thing since they got here.

The shark-man only frowned, he didn't know who was doing it but it was causing a distraction. "Keep an eye on things." He said as he walked away, following the sound that led him away from his base. He followed the trail that led to the girl's house but paused as he focused, no. It wasn't coming from there.

He cut though some bushes and found an older path, it looked to be barely used anymore but it went up and away from the normal route. Someone had to come this way recently because he could see freshly stomped on grass, how odd…

As he got closer the music grew louder and easier to follow, Chew had been right when he said the melody seemed sad but who could it be? To the right?... no, it's coming from this way.

He saw the trees open up just ahead of him, he emerged into the clearing and shielded his eyes for a moment. He had gotten accustomed to the shade given by the forest and the noon sun was obscenely bright as he stepped out, as they slowly adjusted he caught sight of the figure sitting on the ledge. The clearing dropped out below them and from here he could clearly see the village below. The body took shape and he realized that it was her, sitting with his back to him as she played that flute.

Lu was lost in her song; it had been a long time since she played so… solemnly. Her heart ached more than usual today, yes her brother's departure did play a part in it but she was torn. Struggling between obeying her brother and listening to her own desires…

The pipes left her lips as she looked down to the village, so many happy people were down there doing what they loved and being with who they loved… a rustling from behind her caused her to turn quickly. Her heart pounding at the surprise intrusion.

Arlong paused wide eyed as she whirled around, he was going to apologize for startling her but his words got caught in his throat as he saw her cheeks were wet. Fresh tears had been streaming down and he found himself at a loss of words.

"Arlong-sama!" She turned back around and wiped her face dry. How embarrassing.

He just stood there quietly, he didn't know how to react. Why was she crying? What could have happened to steal away that smile she always had for him… what was he saying. She smiled like that for all the fishmen, there was nothing particularly special about how she looked at him. "What's wrong, little sister?"

She sniffed a little and stood up, brushing herself off with a sigh. "Nothing really." She tucked away the instrument and took a deep breath to calm herself. "I just get upset when Bon leaves, I… don't like being alone." She said it a little sadly as she closed the distance. "You don't need to worry." She said with the best smile she could muster. "Are you hungry? I can make…"

He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing but he reached out, touching her head and sliding his hand down to her neck to pull her into him. Why, why was he hugging her like this? His arms wrapped around her and he could feel her body tense. Why… why would she be so apprehensive of his touch. "You're not alone, little sister."

Her heart pounded almost painfully, he reached out to her and pulled her in before she could register what he was actually doing. She didn't know how to react; this was a new feeling for her. She was so much bigger than everyone else on the island that she couldn't remember the sensation of being held like this, not since she was a young girl… "Arlong…" Her arms went up and wrapped around his waist, this feeling… it was so warm.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do now, he half expected to hear the purple haired bastard yelling at him from across the ocean but no loud threats and string of obscenities came and for a moment he even forgot there were humans below them. He relaxed his hold and took a little step back, he could feel his cheeks were getting a little warm. The hell was he thinking…

She followed suit and stepped away, her own cheeks burning as she touched her arms. His warmth was still there. "Ar… Arlong… I…"

What she was about to say was cut off as the bushes shook off to the side and the sound of cracking limbs started echoing, it did not take long till the two were faced by an enormous bear who did not look happy to be awake.

"The hell?!" Arlong exclaimed as he eyed the giant beast with a stripped stomach, on top of its head were two antenna twitching in what distinctly reminded him of agitation.

Lu gasped as she took a step back, pulling on his arm to get him to fall back with her. "Uh oh." She said a little nervously.

He eyed her as he stepped back with her, she didn't seem so much afraid as apologetic to it. "What is that?" He eyed the beast as it growled at them with amber drool dripping from its mouth, and what was this sickly sweet smell coming from it?

"It's a bumble bear." She said as she continued to urge him to back away. "They make all the honey that we use on the island."

He made a face at that. "Bear drool… is your main ingredient."

"It's honey." She argued lightheartedly. "I must have woken it up, we can't hurt it so… we should run."

"What? Why can't you hurt it?" It didn't look that tough.

"Hurt the honey, lose the honey." She responded like it had been told to her over and over… which it had, to be perfectly honest.

"That's quite enough." A voice spoke up from beside them and the old man emerged from the woods. "Sweet child…" he sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you and every other child on this island to stay away from bumble peak." He lectured her.

She bowed her head apologetically. "I'm sorry Gran Ba."

Arlong eyed the old man as he stood in-between them and the towering bear, he wasn't fazed by it in the least. The hell was with this old man?

Gran turned to the bear and eyed it through the puffs of smoke. "Quit your grumbling." He said a little sternly, exerting a fraction of his will over the bear.

The shark man watched quietly, what was this he felt? It almost seemed like a force resonating from the old man. He looked down when he felt her hands on his arm and a reassuring smile that seemed to tell him that everything was fine. What was up with this island?

The bumble bear gave a grumble but went down to all fours and turned away from the gathering of two-leggers, content with the idea of going back to its nap.

Gran gave a few more puffs and turned back to the fishfolk. "Now then, I think it's lunch time." He said with a lazy smile.

"What was that." Arlong demanded to know. "What did you do?"

"The conquerors haki." Lu answered as she stepped toward the path. "Gran is the only one on the island that can use it."

Haki… he's heard of the term, more so when he was in Impel Down, but it wasn't a technique most fishmen could use. If he remembered right… he heard the late Queen Otohime was able to use one of them but he didn't know them well enough to name them.

The old man eyed the two, he knew the sweet child was up here playing that panpipe of hers but what was that man doing here as well? Not to mention he fully took note of the way she held on to his arm just a moment ago… best to keep this to himself. If Bon found out that he couldn't be away for more than a few hours without something coming up then he'd never leave the damn island. "So, it's true that haki use isn't common among fishmen."

The three started back down the path, Lu walked behind them as the two men went back and forth about haki. She wasn't able to use it either, or at least she never tried to. To be honest the whole topic didn't interest her much, her mind was stuck on the embrace. His words playing in her head, for a moment he seemed so gentle and her heart… it was still pounding in her chest.

What was this feeling?

 **To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

Days passed into weeks that faded into months, the island lived and thrived with its day to day. Lu walked down the path and came to the village, things were getting cleaned up from the latest raid. When a pirate ship came in Gran would call her up on her personal DenDen Mushi and she would contact Arlong on the small personal one he carried on him to let him know the fishmen were needed.

To be honest, Gran could handle most of the pirates that came on his own but he had been relying more and more on the fishmen to handle to raids. She still wasn't positive as to why, perhaps it was to make sure they earned their pay or maybe it was to give them an excuse to come to the village more. Whatever the reason she was glad for it, around her she could see the villagers and fishmen working together to tie up the captured pirates. The unease between the two groups was finally letting up.

"Stinking fish!" One of the pirates yelled to her as she was walking past and his angry voice made her jump. The look in his eyes didn't help.

"That's right! You better be afraid of us ya damn fish!"

Another one yelled at her, she hugged herself a little and kept her eyes down. This part she never got over, how could someone hate her so much when they didn't even know her…

"Damn freaks think you're bet.. gk!"

The pirates rant was cut short by a large blue hand around his neck and a familiar shark-man growling threateningly. "What was that you were saying?"

The other pirates quieted down when they saw that one, they knew he would kill all of them if it wasn't for…

"Now now son." Gran came up beside the crouching fishman that was not relaxing his grip in the slightest. "That one is worth a nice little sum, can't collect if he's dead."

Arlong growled at the old man. "Don't call me that." He turned his attention back to the pirate that was starting to slowly turn the same shade of blue as himself. "Besides, the wanted poster said 'Dead or Alive'… right?" He sneered maliciously.

"This is true…" He gave a few puffs on his pipe and chuckled at the terrified looks the captives where now giving them. A little bit of fear went a long way. "Little known fact though, you take a cut out of the bounty if you bring in corpses."

Lu gave a little whimper. "Ar…ah…" She stopped herself, it was a rule that no one would say Arlong's name in front of the pirates. They would be turned into the marines after all and it wouldn't be good for them to find out the escaped convicts were here. "You don't need to…"

She was interrupted by one of the villagers coming up and landing a solid punch on the pirate's jaw which knocked him out. "Nothing wrong with knocking em out tho right boss?"

A few of the other men and fishmen gathered around the pirates while cracking their knuckles and grinning down at them. "We can make em all take a nap." A purple skinned fishman said with a sneer.

"Especially if they want to say things like that to Miss Lu." A villager added with the same look in his eye.

Gran gave a shrug. "Sounds fair enough."

Arlong dropped the unconscious body as he stood up with grin. "You guys always amuse me." He turned away and waved his men to do as they pleased, he wanted to check out the ship.

Lu gave a little whimper as she watched the gleam in the eyes of the men, they were enjoying scaring those pirates a bit much. She sighed a little and jogged after the shark-man, trying her best to ignore the dull 'thuds' that were coming from behind her now. "Ar… ah." She had to stop herself again from saying his name. "Are you all right?" She had eyed the fresh blood on his bicep but she wasn't sure if it was his or from one of the pirates, it was always hard to tell with him.

He shrugged off the question as he left the village behind him and eyed the pirate's ship docked ahead, already a group of people were cleaning the ship of its goods and supplies. This was mostly the work done by the women and high energy children that didn't have issues running back and forth with arms full of goods that they laid out on the ground to be inspected and sorted by the older folks. It really was an affair for the whole town.

She sighed heavily and shook her head, he was always so 'business first' when it came to these raids but it was her job to help patch up everyone. She followed after him quietly, there were still fishmen on the ship that she stopped and checked over. A few scratched here and there and one bad head wound that she sent to the actual doctor, after a lengthy argument, but aside from that everyone seemed fine. There was just Arlong that she needed to check on but now she managed to lose him. "Where did he go…" She crossed her arms with a sigh as she looked back and forth along the deck.

"Chuu, what are you looking for?"

"Ah!" She turned and smiled to the blonde fishman. "Perfect timing."

"Oh? Were you looking for me?" He smiled as he put an arm around her shoulder.

She blushed a little at his affection, he was always so open like this but his warmth was different than from when Arlong hugged her months ago on bumble peak. Not to mention Chew was rather popular among all the women here. "Sorry to disappoint." She gave him a pat to his chest and took a step away. "I'm looking for the Captain, he had blood on his arm and I wanted to see if he was hurt or not."

He gave a little frown, out of all the women on this island she was the one who was hardest to get close to. "I saw him heading below deck, I think we are gonna keep this one."

"Really?" She eyed the ship, it was a bit bigger than the others. If they did claim this one then it would be the second one, it looked like they'd take a bigger cut to their profits considering this ship was fairly well stocked and there was a good bit of gold on board too. "I better find him and patch him up quick then." She knew they'd move the ship to the other side of the island as soon as it was stripped.

"Chuu, you could always come to the base and do it there." He said as he put his hands on his hips, he had hoped once that brother of hers left she'd spend more time with them but she only went to a handful of their banquets and wasn't nearly as playful as that first night.

She gave him a faint smile, they had been trying to get her to come over more and more but… she was still struggling with Bon's request. She wanted to spend more time with them but at the same time she didn't want to ignore her brother's wish. "But I'm already here." She said with a better smile as she gave him a wave and made her way down the steps. She took a deep breath, there really had to be a better way to deal with this arrangement. She had been so happy to hear they were all going to stay on the island but now it seemed liked the human villagers were getting along better with the fishmen than she was…

"Miss Lu?"

She looked up to see Batto smiling at her, his mouth full of sharp teeth almost seemed to gleam in the light of the lantern he was holding. "Hello there, have you seen Arlong?"

"Yea, he's in the cargo hold. It's all cleaned out so I'm goin up top to get the ship ready to sail."

"Oh, so you guys are keeping this one?" She knew that Chew said it was a possibility but Arlong must have given the definitive answer.

He gave a nod. "Yea, this one is a good size for us. It's hard to find ones like this."

She gave him a smile. "I'm glad." She still wasn't sure what they wanted the ships for and honestly… she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know. Maybe that's why she was still holding back on getting to know them, at the end of the day… Arlong and his men were still pirates. "I'll see you later, I want to make sure the Captain in alright after the fight."

"Yea yea, he did have a cut on his arm. Bleeding pretty good but the boss is a tough guy."

She gave a little chuckle. "I don't doubt that." She gave him a wave and moved on, a few more fishmen walked past her and directed her further in until she opened a heavy wooden door that led to the cargo area. The large room was dimly lit by a few wall mounted lanterns but she could see him at the back of the area sitting on a crate she could only assume was empty if it had been left. "Arlong?"

He looked up with an arched brow. "What are you doing on the ship?" She rarely came onto the ships and he didn't think he'd ever seen her come this far into one, even though plenty of them had offered to give her tours.

She held up the little first aid kit with a smile. "Trying to do my part." She took note of the rag in his hand, he must have been trying to clean himself up. "I think I can do a better job at that than you."

He smirked and tossed the cloth aside, she was always doing these little patch jobs. "By all means." He watched her as she sat beside him and opened that little kit of hers. "You seem to enjoy doing this."

"I enjoy helping." She said as she dabbed a cotton ball with antiseptic. "Seeing you hurt doesn't make this enjoyable…"

"Heh." He grinned at that. "You're really that worried about me?"

Her cheeks started to burn. "I… I huh…" She fumbled over her words and kept her eyes away from his but she could see his wide grin. "I worry about every one, I don't like seeing anyone get hurt." She finished cleaning his cut and grabbed a bandage to wrap his arm up.

Arlong reached up and touched her chin to turn her face up. "You're too soft." He could see it in her face even as those human pirates were berating her, she even looked sad when he had that one's throat in his hand.

His touch didn't help her reddening cheeks but his hands were so warm, why was his touch so much different than the others. "Maybe… you're too harsh." She said softly as she started wrapping his arm.

"Hmph…" He huffed a little at that and looked away. "How can you like these humans so much."

That question made her pause for a moment, after all this time here on the island he was still so hostile towards the humans. "Because they've always been kind to me here." She sighed a little as she finished and set the unused bandage back into her kit. "Maybe if I grew up on fishman island… I could hate them like you." She closed up the kit and hugged it to her chest as she stood, she wanted to get close to him but maybe… maybe this gap in their view points was too big to bridge.

He gave a grumble at that, the tone in her voice sounded more sad than anything. As if she pitied him for the way he felt about them and how he grew up. That kinda pissed him off a little.

"I'll see you later…" Her voice was a whisper, the look on his face told her that this visit would be better off kept short. She took a step and the ship swayed under her causing her to lose her balance and let out a slight yelp.

His eyes got a little wide as he reached out and grabbed her, she fell into him easily and before he realized what had happened he was holding her in his arms. He didn't notice it when they were talking but he could feel the ship moving now, his men must have started to sail the ship around the island while they were below.

Her eyes were just as wide as they stared at each other, both apparently shocked by the position they were in. Her heart was pounding; it was just like that day on Bumble Peak when he held her in that impossibly warm embrace. Slowly the other sensations began to register, like the feel of the ship moving. "It looks like we'll be together for a bit longer."

His own cheeks started to get warm now, neither of them even attempted to move. What the hell was he doing, he wasn't going to pursue this girl. He put that thought out of his head a while ago. She was too trusting of humans, to gentle. Besides, he couldn't give her what she wanted… he couldn't give her a family. He wasn't that type of guy…

"Arlong…"

Her voice saying his name jolted him back to reality and he broke their eyes, closing his own and taking a deep breath before letting her go. "It won't take us long to reach the base, you could always swim to shore if you don't want to stick around."

She slid out of his arms and sat back down next to him, trying to calm her heart. "No, I'll stay. I… I like being on ships. Bon used to take me out sailing a lot…"

He nodded his head quietly, damn, now things felt odd. He could always act confident around anyone, including her… most of the time. Holding her like that just seemed to get him off his game.

She took a deep breath and leaned her shoulder against his arm, even this felt so warm to her. "Would you mind… if we stayed like this till we dock." She asked quietly, her cheeks getting a little rosy as she fidgeted with the kit. She wanted this warm feeling to last a little longer… Even though she knew they would never see eye to eye… it was nice to feel… normal.

"I… I don't care." He said as he blushed, eyeing her with sideways glances as she rested against him. Her eyes were closed and she had a little smile on her face, what the hell was she doing looking like that while leaning against him… she seemed so… at ease being at his side. "Hey…" He cupped her cheek and turned her face up to his. "Lulu…" He said her name, to be honest he was fairly certain this was the first time he actually used it…

"Ah, ye… yes." She looked up to him, his eyes looked a lot softer than usual and his hand… it was so warm and the way he said her name… it was nice to hear him say it.

His thumb moved and touched her lips, what the hell was he doing… "I'm going to kiss you."

That caused her heart rate to jump right back up, did he really say such a thing? "O… Ok." What was she saying? Was this really ok… What would Bon think? Oh god, if he found out… Her face was being lifted higher and she refocused on the shark-man's face closing in, his lips parting just a little… and soon those lips were touching hers. It was gentle, she didn't expect him to be so… tender. Without thinking her own mouth started to move against his… Oh god, what is she doing?

His other hand moved up so he could hold her face, lips parted just a little more and he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She was inexperienced, to put it lightly, but she fell into his motions and reciprocated his touch. What the hell was he doing… a part of him wanted to stop but she tasted so sweet. He savored the mixed taste of honey and lemonade in her mouth, he had forgotten how long it had been since he touched a woman but his body was painfully reminding him. Damn it… what the hell was he doing.

She should stop, she knew she shouldn't be doing this but her body didn't listen as her arms wrapped around his thick neck. It's not like she's never been kissed but having him hold her like this… she never felt so… normal. She had never had a chance to feel like this. She didn't tower above him; she didn't need to hold back her strength when holding him and in turn he didn't fawn over her or give her special treatment. This must be what it feels like to be ordinary… it was wonderful.

They paused to breath, Arlong rested the side of his head against hers with a sigh. Why the hell did he kiss her… this would only cause problems… What if she started to get clingy, thinking this means more than… Hell, he didn't even know…

"Thank you…"

Her voice was barely even a whisper that he wasn't even sure if she spoke or sighed, he moved his face away from hers just a little so he could eye her slightly. This might be the only time he cursed the length of his nose that prevented him from being able to look at her head on while so close… then again, maybe that was Gods way of telling him he's not meant to be so close to others… not like this anyways.

Her hands left his neck and slid down to his chest before she scooted away, her eyes turned downward so she could hide her reddened cheeks. "I think… I might swim back after all." It would be best to keep her distance… she really didn't know how to take this.

That shocked him a little, the last thing he was expecting was to scare her away. Granted, it wasn't like he surprised her or anything. He said he was going to do it; she knew that she could have said no… didn't she? "Sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"No." She interrupted him with a soft smile. "Please don't think that." She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "I liked it… I… I like you." She started blushing again and looked away, fidgeting with her kit as the nervousness set in. "Being around you I can finally feel what it's like to be a regular girl so I'm grateful…" She just didn't know if he kissed her because he liked her or if he just wanted… something else… She sighed and stood up, trying to shake that last thought. No… he wasn't that type of guy, if he was then would he really warn her that he was going to kiss her?

His eyes lingered on her as she stood with her back to him, what she said struck a cord and reminded him of what the old man and that one eyed bastard said… she was lonely. It wasn't until just now that he realized just how isolated she could have felt being surrounded by humans all her life. Hell, even for a fishwoman she was tall for their kind. What could she had possibly felt standing out among all these humans for so long?

"Chuu, You still down here Arlong-kun?"

The familiar voice drew their attention to the door as the blue skinned one walked in, he paused a moment as he looked back and forth between the two. "Chuu, I didn't know you were still on board Lulu-chan."

She smiled a little almost relieved to have the interruption. "Just finishing up, I was about to head up so I can swim back."

"Aw." He closed the gap and put an arm around her shoulder affectionately. "You should stay till we get back to the base, I can give you a tour of the ship too."

Arlong quietly watched his old friend and his ever flirtatious attitude towards her, she never resisted him when he made advances… maybe those two could get together, Chew was a good man. He'd be able to make her feel loved… then again, he's pretty flirty with all the women…

"Not this time." She said with a friendly pat against his chest before she escaped from his one armed hug. "I should get my kit cleaned up, quite a lot of you got hurt this time and I used up most of my bandages." It was a half-truth; she did use up a lot of them but she still had plenty. It was the idea of giving her and Arlong space that she wanted most right now.

The shark man gave a scowl as he kept pondering his own personal dilemma, Kuroobi maybe? He wasn't a flirt and those two seemed to hit it off, not sure how affectionate he'd be though…

"Arlong?"

Hearing his name jolted him out of his musings and he looked up to see them both looking at him.

Lu gave him a smile, he seemed really distracted right now. "I'm heading out, when you guys get the party ready come and get me. I'll be at home for the rest of the day." With that she gave them both a wave and made her way out of the cargo area, she thought she had done particularly well on not showing Chew just how flustered she was from Arlong's kiss.

The remaining two fishmen watched her go quietly, the kisser-fishman gave a sigh as he crossed his arms. "Chuu, you know Arlong-kun. I'm a little jealous."

"Huh?" He gave the man a questioning look, what was that supposed to mean?

"I think Miss Lu really likes you."

That blunt statement made him blush a little. "Don't make it out to be more than what it is, she likes all of us." Which was true, she was friendly with everyone and it never seemed like she favored anyone over the rest… then again, there was what she just said…

"Chuu, and we all like her." That was putting it mildly, any single and available fishman would love to be able to be with her… even a few of the men that had wives or girlfriends back home admitted to feeling a little tempted. "but I think you two look good together."

"Tch…" Arlong stood and walked away, wanting no part in this conversation. He should keep his distance from her and not lead her on, that kiss was… a fluke. Nothing more than his body acting on a whim… that's right. He just had to keep repeating that. He wasn't the man who could give her what she wants, he's not someone that could love like that… now, if he could just get the taste of her out of his mouth he'd have a better time convincing himself of all that.

Lu took a deep breath, the water felt nice and it relaxed her to swim. She did want to stay on the ship a little longer because she loved the feel of sailing but she also needed time to clear her head she just wished the cool seawater would do more to ease the warmth she still felt all over her body.

She surfaced with a sigh as she lifted herself up onto the dock, she should just leave the whole topic alone. She doubted Arlong meant anything by that kiss, it was just a whim of the moment… that's all…

"Big sis! Big sis!"

A chorus of voices drew her attention to the end of the dock where some of the children and older folks were shifting through the relinquished treasure, the familiar little leader came up with his crew in tow and she couldn't help but smile at the little fiery haired boy. "Yes Bas, what is it?" She gave him a loving pet then ruffled up his already messy hair.

"Heh." He blushed a little, she was the only person he didn't yell at when they messed up his hair. "Gran-Ba is looking for you; we were just about to run up to your house to see if you were home."

"Oh?" She gave the boys a quizzical look as they made their way up to the village, what could he possibly need? "Do you know where he's at?"

"Right here sweet child."

They looked over to see him emerging from between two houses, looking much too tired considering he didn't expend much energy during the raid. Lu gave a tilt of her head as she eyed him. "What's the matter Gran-Ba? Did the pirates cause you trouble?"

"No, no. nothing like that." He gave a little grumble as he lit his pipe. "They are all loaded up onto the transport ship to be taken to the navy base." He exhaled a large cloud of smoke as he sat down on a nearby bench. "It's your brother that's giving me a headache."

"Bon?" That shocked her and she couldn't help but turn back towards the dock to see if she missed his boat. "Is he back?" She asked hopefully, god how she missed him.

Gran gave her an apologetic look; anyone could see how much she missed him during these long trips. "No, sweet child. He's just been calling nonstop asking about you to make sure you're ok." He leaned back and took another long drag from his pipe, that boy was certainly being troublesome today. "Could you be a dear and call him, he's been ranting about getting a terrible feeling… what did he say… 'Chills that he knew meant someone was doing something foul and evil to my sweet little sister'…" Gran shook his head with a grumble, there was no telling what that boy was deluding himself with now.

Lu blushed a little, what would be the odds of Bon calling and saying such a thing after she had that Kiss… or was it during… He couldn't have possibly… could he? "Alight, I'll call him right away."

Arlong let out a frustrated growl as he landed punch after punch against the blackened boulder, he could normally crush any rock with ease but that old man had his hand on it and infused it with haki so it was unbreakable… for now.

Gran exhaled a large cloud of smoke, the lad seemed unfocused today. He doubted it was from the morning raid, for a moment he thought the fishman was being rather assertive wanting to do some haki training this afternoon after the raid was wrapped up. He thought, that being the keyword, that the shark was going to really put in some effort today… but he didn't even seem like he was trying to focus on utilizing his armament training. The lad was just wailing against a target he couldn't break. "You need to focus your will son; you're just going to break your hands if you keep this up." He took his hand off the boulder and let the armament fade off of it.

The shark-man's eyes got wide as he saw the black color fading away but he couldn't stop the momentum of his fist, his knuckles connected with the rock and it exploded on contact. "Argh! Don't call me that!" He yelled out as he waved a hand in front of his face the clear away some of the dust. "Why did you let go?!" He turned away with a snarl.

The old man sighed as he gave his pipe a tap to knock out the ash. "I told you I would teach you how to use Haki, I did not agree to make punching bags for you."

That earned the old one a frustrated growl but he couldn't deny he was right, Arlong rubbed his hands where the skin of his knuckles had broken from his little fit. He was annoyed but he didn't know why, it was his normal agitation during training. Learning Busoshoku was difficult for him, not many fishmen could use haki but it wasn't impossible. He knew that but he just couldn't grasp it as well as he wanted, he could utilize the haki itself to defend against attacks and would sometimes spar with the old man. Fox faced bastard was insanely fast though and to Arlong's complete frustration he found it hard to lay a solid bunch on the old man. What was giving him trouble was learning how to harden the haki around him to make that black coating…

"What has you troubled today?" Gran asked, he couldn't help but be curious. He thought the lad was doing well on picking up on the training but today was anything but.

The fishman crossed his arms, he knew what his problem was and it pissed him off. How could he fret over something as insignificant as a little kiss… "It's nothing."

"So, the sweet child is it…"

"What?!" He turned on the old man with a look of shock, how did he… damn it. He realized, a little too late, that he was fishing.

Gran chuckled at the reaction, he had to admit he was a little surprised. He figured the lad to be the last of those fishmen to get swayed by the sweet child. "No need to be ashamed, it's hard not to fall for the lass." He gave a little sigh as he stood up and brushed off himself off from the pulverized debris.

Arlong blushed as he crossed his arms. "Shut it old man, I don't have any such feelings for the girl." He said it almost to convince himself, he couldn't develop such things. Love was a wasteful emotion and served no purpose… not for him. "I don't see why you all fawn over her so much and place her on a pedestal like some doll." What she said echoed in his mind as well as the look on her face when she talked, these humans thought that they were making her feel special by treating her like that but all they were doing were alienating her. He took a deep breath, he was letting himself get angry over the matter and that would only affirm the old man's little fantasy.

"Hmmm…" He lit his pipe as he eyed the fishman, so that's what it was… "You think we coddle the girl?"

"Hmph, beyond a doubt." He turned away with a grumble. "You've kept her ignorant of the world, her own species and for what?" He snarled a little. "To pound away like a slave making weapons for a smuggler that claims to care…"

"That's quite enough." Gran interrupted him with a stern look and a slight exertion of his will to stop that waggling tongue before it got the lad in trouble. "Your words are treading on dangerous ground son, especially for someone who knows nothing of what this entire island has done for the child."

"Tch!" He hated this power that the old man had, to think a damn human could have this kind of strength. "Besides keeping her locked away and sheltered from the real world what could you humans have possibly done? You've told her scary stories of pirates to keep her in check maybe? That's why she shy's away from them when she has the strength to crush them all." He could still remember her face on that first day when she found out he was a pirate and every other time there are raids. The expression on her face is always the same and it infuriated him. "Did you humans ever think to tell her the real scary stories of humans that would steal away her kind to sell them in auctions to the highest bidder's amusement, to be slaves that were abused in all the worst ways. I don't see her looking at you all in terror so those stories must have been left out in fear she would run away…"

"Be quiet boy!" The old man raised his voice, the first time in a very long while.

Arlong gave a grunt, the force of that old man's will was bearing down on him and the look in the old man's eyes reminded him of his own when he lost control and went on a rampage but he wouldn't let this old bastard talk down to him. "Stop talking to me like I'm your child you damn human!"

Gran gave a grumble as he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with smoke to calm himself. It wasn't like him to get worked up like this but then again it was a topic concerning the child, there wasn't a sole on this island that wouldn't react the same. "We've told her no such stories…" He exhaled the smoke as he spoke, his voice still holding a bit of a grumble. "We had no need to tell her what horrors we humans are capable of… she learned that terrible lesson on her own."

Ice blue eyes grew wide. "What are you talking about?" He eyed the other man, his demeanor had changed from being furious to solemn. What happened on this island? What happened to Lulu?

The elder sighed heavily as he sat down in front of the fishman and signaled for him to do the same, this was not a tale he ever wanted to tell. "I'm going to tell you a story lad, of the darkest day in the history of this island…" He took another long drag from his pipe and looked up to the peaceful sky. "It was the day that every man, woman and child on this island… became murderers…"

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This Chapter is a flashback that takes place 9 years ago on Bala Bala when Lulu was 14 years old & Bon was 27, it will explain what happened to start Simon D. Bon & his twin sister Temperance D. Bon (from my story 'a Gathering Storm') on their individual paths to become the people they are now. You'll also meet Abigail Tome which is the main Character to my story 'Turn the Page'.**

 **As a warning, this is an extra-long chapter b/c I don't want to split the flashback into multiple chapters & there is lots of violence & un-pleasantries ahead.**

Laughter, it rang out along the path and the villagers could hear the siblings before they saw them. They smiled as the two came up the path, Lu had her arm wrapped around her brothers as they walked and his loud laugh drew everyone's attention as always.

Gran chuckled from his spot on a rocking chair, he was enjoying this pleasantly warm day as was the rest of the village. He waved to the siblings with a smile as they got closer. "You two seem in high spirits."

"Yup yup!" Lu said with a wide smile. "Big sis sent us a letter!" She held it up with a laugh.

"Oh?" The old man gave a few puffs on his pipe. "And how is our little fire cracker doing?"

Bon grinned. "She's doing great." He rubbed his nose with a bit of a snicker. "I still can't believe she's stuck with it. To think, one day my sister is gonna be a big shot Marine."

Lu touched her fingers a little and shifted her weight nervously. "Do you think… I could be a marine too?" She blushed a little, she loved the stories that big sis told of all the different type of people she helped… she wanted to help people too…

"What's this?" A woman with shoulder length black and white streaked hair came walking up to them with a young fire headed child in her arms that was no older than three years. "Why would you want to do a silly thing like that Lu-love." She gave the girl a wink. "Being a pirate is way more fun."

"Oye oye oye!" Bon waved his hand to dismiss the thought. "My baby sister won't be doing either, it's way too dangerous."

"Oh but Booooon." Lu whined a little.

"No arguing." He ruffled her hair affectionately before turning back to the woman. "And you, no putting ideas in her head." He went to her and wrapped an arm around her waist giving her a kiss on the cheek as he did.

She smiled and leaned into him, he was such a protective fool… but she loved him for it. "Can't be helped my love, it's what I do."

Gran chuckled, they always had this little light hearted debate. Abby and Bon had been together for twelve years now… sporadically. She'd leave at random, the call of the sea was too strong for a young pirate like her but she was one of the good ones and a brilliant doctor to boot. "So young lady, do you plan on returning my grandson or will you be kidnapping him again."

She laughed a little as she hugged the boy in her arms. "I just can't help it, he's so cute!"

Bon gave a little blush as he watched her, she was so good with kids. He moved behind her and wrapped them both in a hug, putting his face beside hers as he eyed the child. "Maybe we can have another one." He said with a smile. "or two."

She smirked at that. "Are you sure we should spawn another." She turned a little and nodded her head to a certain young boy with messy purple and black hair that was flirting with the baker's wife. "He's only ten and yet he's wooing the ladies at every turn."

Bon laughed. "He's gonna be a heart breaker… but that just means the next one will be more reserved."

Ah he was a persistent one. "Can't we just adopt this one." She gave the little boy a squeeze. "I'd love to have a little red headed son like this."

"Now what a minute." Gran arched a brow. "No stealing children you, especially not my grandson."

Lu just watched the exchange quietly, her siblings were so lucky. Bon had a family of his own and big sis was doing great things with the Marines, plus she had met a man of her own… another Marine that liked to smoke about as much as she did… But most of, they were both so happy… she hoped she could find someone to make her smile like they did and have children of her own one day…

"Are you alright Lu?"

Hearing her name gave her a start, then realized the other three were looking at her. "Yea." She smiled at them. "I'm gonna head back to the house to help mama and papa."

They waved to her and Abby gave a sad little sigh. "Do you think she'll be ok?"

Bon sighed as well, she worried about Lu more than anyone… but he couldn't argue it. Lu was the only fishwoman here and the more time passed the more the entire village saw that she was going to stand out… and that wasn't referring to her pink skin or fins. She was only fourteen years old but already she was as tall as he was and looked like a grown woman… He wanted her to be happy and he knew she wanted a family of her own… He shook his head and pushed aside the sad thoughts. "Yea, that girl has so much heart there's nothing that she can't bounce back from." He gave his lady a kiss to the side of her head to reassure her. "Now how bout you release that child to the old man so you and I can escape while the boy is distracted." He eyed their son who was now chatting up a few ladies who were out shopping. "We haven't had any 'us' time lately."

"Don't worry." Gran said as he took his grandson from her. "I'll make sure Sam stays out of trouble."

"Thank you." She smiled and stroked the child's hair one last time before disappearing with Simon, she should enjoy her time while she could. They were planning to leave again in a few weeks and this time… she wasn't sure when she'd be back.

* * *

Out at see a large ship moved across the water, sails full of wind. A man stood at the helm and his eyes peered straight ahead. "Can you see it?"

Beside him another man handed over the monocular. "Yea, the island is right up against the calm belt. Just like the rumors said. I'd give it a few hours and we'll make land Captain."

The other man grinned, they had been searching for this damned island for a while and all they had were bits and pieces of clues to follow but at long last he'd found it. He only hoped it had the woman his Master was looking for, the treasured bride…

* * *

"Gran-Ba!" A young lad called out as he ran through the town, behind him his friends were close behind. "Gran-Ba!" He yelled once more.

"Settle down lad." The old man answered as he gave his grandson a bounce, beside him Sam was making faces at the youngling to cease his crying. "What's the matter?"

"A pirate ship is coming this way."

"What?" He arched a brow, they've never had a ship sail this close to calm belt before unless it was one of the merchant ships but everyone here knew those ships and they always send notice before hand. "Are you sure lad? Could you be mistaken?"

"No." Another young man answered. "We all saw it and made sure, it sails a black flag with a weird jolly roger." He leaned over to catch his breath, they had all ran at full speed from the docks to find Gran. "Is pops around?"

Gran gave a grumble; he wasn't sure what to do. "He's at his house… Someone should get him though, and another needs to find Simon." The lad was the only devil fruit user on the island, his ability to shrink things wasn't the most useful but it would be something… "Give Abby's ship a call as well, they are docked on the far side of the island at the old base." He knew they had a devil fruit user as well but he never used his abilities so there was no telling what he could do.

"What's going on Gramps?" Sam asked, he didn't understand what the fuss was about. Mom was a pirate and he spent a lot of time on her ship, all the pirates he knew were really good people.

He looked down to the boy and put a hand on his head… he had to protect the children as well… "Gather up all the women and children, send them to the old base. They'll be safer there than anywhere else." He handed Sam his grandson and knelt down to look at him in the eyes. "I need you to protect Sebastian, go with the others to the old base and keep him safe."

The boy still didn't understand the urgency but he gave a firm nod. "You can count on me Gramps, I'll protect him. He's gonna be my little brother one day." He smiled as he held the little one close, Sebastian really was important to him. Mom always had him when she came home and they were growing up together… so one day, when he got older, they'd exchange cups of sake just like the grownups do and become real brothers.

The old man smiled, he knew he could count on him. They were very close and Abby might as well been the child's godmother since the boys own parents were not around. The mother, his daughter, did not survive the birth and the father was a sailor that stayed only for a season and left before they even knew she was with child… he sighed as he stood back up. "Go now, the others will be following shortly."

Sam gave a determined nod and was off, he'd lead the way and help to keep everyone safe. One day he was gonna be a great doctor too and sail the seas with his mom… so he had to be strong like her and his dad… he'd be a man that could protect everyone.

* * *

The ship hit the docks and the crew's feet hit the ground running, they all knew the drill. They'd swarm this little island and turn over every last stone till there was nothing left hiding. The Captain's heavy bots landed hard and the broken dock creaked under his weight as he strolled forward. "What a pathetic little island…"

Already he could hear yelling coming from the village up ahead, the men knew the orders. Give no explanation just round them all up and kill any man that interferes… they'd kill the women next, if they fail the test. In the end none would survive, their Master was a man of secrets and his word was law. No one would know they existed or what happened to this island and its people.

"Captain!" One of the crew came running up. "The villagers are putting up a fight but we should be able to detain them shortly but it looks like it's only men."

"Hmph." They must have hidden the women and children somewhere… He stopped and looked up to see some of his men flying… "Hee." He made a sound of curiosity. "It looks like they have a strong one."

The other man gave a grumble. "It's just an old man doing kung fu, we'll have him handled shortly. There's no need to worry."

The Captain grabbed the other man's neck and lifted him off the ground to make eye contact. "Does it look like I'm 'worried'…"

He kicked his legs feebly and grabbed the large hand around his neck. "N... no… sir… I didn't mean…"

The larger man threw the crewman aside and went to were the commotion was, he was agitated now. He could see the old man, a fox faced old bastard… "You seem to know what you're doing old man."

Gran looked up, he was already breathing heavy. Damn he hated getting old… he was regretting spending so many days lounging and napping but he never thought he'd need to fight again. The man coming too him must have been the Captain, a mountain of a bastard with a cold look in those black eyes. He didn't like it; these pirates gave no warning or even demands as to what they wanted. They just attacked and began capturing or cutting down whoever they please, beside him… one of the lads that had warned him of these pirates lay dead at his feet… he was still just a young man, too young to have his life stolen. "What do you want, why are you attacking us?" He didn't ease his stance at all, the other man's aura chilled him to the bone and he knew if he backed down even a little this predator would attack. He just had to hold on, wait until Abby's crew came. Wait until Simon arrived. He just had to wait, just a little longer.

"You've taken down many of my crew." He cracked his knuckles with a wide toothy grin. "As such you've earned a little of my respect, old man. So I will tell you my name." He removed his coat and let it fall to the ground, he would not underestimate the old man. "The name of the man who will kill you and everyone else on this island, is Barron Von Kaizer."

The old man scowled, this man… he was no man. It was a monster wearing the flesh of man… the skin was covered in scars from innumerable cuts… but they did not seem like things he received from fights. They were too uniform… to precise… and deep in his gut he knew that this man before him was too much for him… but he would fight. He would wait…

* * *

Abby smiled to herself as she reclined against Simon's chest, she eyed the calm belt with a sigh. "One day I'm going to fix up my ship to sail through that nest of beasts."

Simon chuckled. "You would get excited for that, all you need is to fix your ship up like the navy do and you'll be good to go." Thanks to his sister sharing a little extra info they knew how to do it already but they were still working on gathering the sea stone for the ship coating.

"Yup, then I'll be free to come and go through the seas just like the navy. I can travel all over the world and find all the best medicines…"

He hugged her tightly, his super doctor. Out to cure all the illnesses of the world. "That reminds me, I heard an interesting rumor."

"Oh?" She craned her neck to look at him. "And what might this rumor be?"

He pointed up to the clouds with a big smile. "That there's islands in the sky!"

"What?" She rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to the sea. "You would believe a fanciful thing like that." Her love, the dreamer. She shook her head with a smile.

He poked her in the rib playfully. "I'm serious, when you go to the grandline you'll see I'm telling the truth. They have these shells too that can do all sorts of things, like trap the wind so you can use them to propel things." He gave her a squeeze as he continued to smile. "I'd want a bunch of those things if I had a ship, then I'd have the fastest ship in the whole world."

There he goes… dreaming again. She gave a sigh and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Alright then, my brave sailor who's never left this island unless I drag him aboard my ship." She teased him a bit, he loved this island too much so she doubted he'd ever be able to live a life out at sea. "When I go to the grandline, I'll ask about these sky islands and your little shells… but I swear if I become the laughing stock of the line I'll never forgive…"

"Cap'n!"

The other two looked up to see a large tiger running up to them, one that was easily three times the size of a normal one, Abby sat up with a questioning look. "Forrest? What is it?" She eyed his back and saw her two katana strapped to him. "And why do you have those?"

The tiger's body shifted as it stood up on two legs and went to the human-beast form with a snarl. "God damn it woman! Where tha 'ell is yer baby snail!" He growled. "Been try'n ta call ya!"

She looked around blankly, she thought she had it… but maybe she had forgotten it back at Simon's house…

"Never mind, take this one." He let out another snarl as he tossed her one, damn absent minded woman. "We 'ave ta go; pirates 'ave attacked tha island." He tossed her the swords when she got done juggling the snail and turned back around.

"What?!" The two shot up, hearts racing. Simon stepped forward. "Where's Lu?!"

The other man turned back a little. "Don't know fer sure, we got tha call ta warn us tha women and children were coming to our ship. When I left she 'adn't shown up yet." He turned his attention back to the Captain. " 'alf tha crew 'as stayed ta protect tha weaker folk an tha other 'alf are on their way ta rescue tha village; we need ya with us Cap'n." He bent down and returned to his animal form, waiting for her to get on. They'd move quicker if he carried her.

She hopped on his back without hesitation, she wanted to go to the ship to make sure Sam and Sebastian were there but she had to have faith in Gran-Ba. He would've gotten them to safety first... But that didn't help to ease her worrying "Simon?"

"I'm going to my house, I have to make sure my parents and Lu are ok." His dad could hold his own but his mother's health was never very solid and Lu had never even seen a fight before… he had to protect them, at the very least he had to make sure they got to Abby's ship.

She gave him a nod. "Be safe Simon, I love you."

"I love you too baby." He barely got it out before the tiger left, he was off on a dead run with her leaned close to his back to limit the wind resistance. Those two would make quite a sight when they hit the village, Abby was a strong woman and that old tiger was brutal. "Keep her safe Forrest!" He called to the tiger before they got out of earshot. "Or I swear I'll turn you into a rug!"

"Hmph." He smirked a bit as he picked up speed, brat still had the mindset to be a cheeky little fucker. "Don't 'old back with these pirates, Cap'n. They aren't tha type to be reasoned with."

"What do you mean?"

He scowled to himself and wrinkled his nose. "Ya can't smell it yet… but I can." He could safely say this was the only thing about being a zoan type devil fruit user that he could not stand… the stench of death always hit him hard. "Tha air is filled with blood… too much for just a wee scuffle."

Her fists clenched around his fur and her swords and the knot in her stomach tightened, this island was such a peaceful place… why would pirates come here all of a sudden?

* * *

Lu wrapped a shawl around her mother's shoulders to keep her warm, they had gotten the call from the village to head to sister Abby's ship but her mother was not feeling well today and was moving slowly. "Are you ok? I can carry you, mama."

The older woman patted the girl's hand affectionately. "Don't fret my sweet child, I'll be fine."

"Are you ready yet?" A burly man looked into the room as he loaded the rifle, his wife was standing now with the help of their daughter. He chambered a round with an aggravated sigh, he should have prepared better for this. He never thought that pirates would ever come to their little island, there was nothing here of monetary worth to draw them… "I'll see you to Abby's ship, you two stay there until me or Simon come and get you. Understand?"

Lu nodded. "Yes papa." Her heart was racing. Why? Why were these people attacking them, they never did anything wrong... All the villagers here were so nice and gentle so why? Why were these people hurting them?

"Come on." He met his wife's eyes, she didn't look well… she wanted them to leave her but he could never do such a thing.

They heard the door open and Lu perked up. "That must be Bon!" She went to call out to him but her father's hand went over her mouth.

"Shhh…" He hushed her as he readied his gun, Simon would have called out for them by now… was it too late… was the enemy already at their door? "Stay here and hide, don't make a sound."

"Papa?" She whispered now, the look in his eyes scared her.

He sighed and hugged them both. "I need you to be strong now baby girl, protect your mother."

Lu bit her lip to ebb the tears threatening to fall, she was scared… so scared. She nodded her head firmly, she had to be strong. Strong like papa and brother. Strong like big sis and sister Abby.

The two watched him sneak out the door and shut it behind him quietly, they could hear movement in the house down stairs and they knew… It wasn't Simon who had come home… Lu looked around, they needed a place to hide… Her eyes went to the window. "Mama, we have to go."

The older woman kept her eyes on the door, the image of her husband still lingered there… and she knew… She turned to her precious baby and cupped her cheek. "I love you my sweet child, I love you so much." Even though she did not give birth to her, this girl was her most beloved child. "Out the window now." I am sorry my darling…

Lu nodded as she opened the window and swung her leg out so she sat on the window sill. "I can carry you down mama, I can keep you safe." She smiled at her mother's soft touch as she held her face again, her hands were always so warm. "I can protect you, just like papa said."

A gunshot erupted from below them and startled them both, Lu's eyes grew wide as she heard yelling. Papa was fighting now… she shook her head and took her mother's shoulder. "Hurry mama, we got to go now."

"My baby… it's a parent's job to protect their children…"

"Mama?" She asked in a questioning tone then suddenly… she was falling.

The woman had called up every last ounce of the strength she had remaining and pushed her child, the fall would not hurt her. She was a durable girl, her fishman blood made her so… there was so many things she wanted to do still. She had so many things she wanted to teach her and say to her… but all she could say now… "Run. Run sweet child."

Lu hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of her as she laid there in shock… her mother looked down at her from the window above… no, no she wasn't supposed to be up there still. She fumbled and stood, crying uncontrollably. "Mama! Mama! Jump down! I can catch you! I can still protect you! Mama!" She cried, her eyes burning as she screamed, she was supposed to protect her, she told papa she would… "Mama!"

Another gunshot, a man's muffled scream… the woman turned away from her sweet child and went to the nightstand beside her bed. She pulled out the hand gun that she kept, it would not stop them all and she doubted it had all the bullets in it… but if this could be the last act to protect her baby then she would gladly do it. The door opened slowly and she raised the heavy weapon.

Below the window Lulu cried out, banging her fists against the side of the house. Please mama… please come back… Another gunshot, from the room this time. "Mama!" She screamed as she stepped back to see into the window better. "Ah!" She could see her back, she smiled wide with tears still streaming. "I'm still here mama…" Her voice cracked a little and her body seemed to freeze, something fell past her… it was heavy and landed with a thud… she didn't see it though. Her eyes still looking up to the window… that wasn't her mother standing there. That wasn't her mother leaning out with a terrifying grin and blood splattered face. Who was that man standing in her parent's room and looking down at her? Where… where was mama… the scent of blood. It filled her senses… her eyes moved downward. To the ground at her feet where something lay, crumpled and lifeless… the throat slashed so deeply the head barely hung on… the eyes… her mama's eyes… why didn't they seem warm… "Ma…ma…" Why wasn't she moving. "You… have to get up mama." Her voice was barely holding it together as she looked down at the body, she couldn't look away. Her eyes glued upon the face of her mother. "I told papa… I'd protect you…" She fell to her knees, shaky hands hovering above the woman's lifeless face. "I told… papa… I told…"

"Heee…"

She jumped as a voice came from beside her, another man stood at the edge of her house. Half of his body hidden but she did not need to see more, he was towering… the largest man she had ever seen and his body was splattered with blood. Blue hair now two toned with red and those black eyes stayed locked on her… She did not like him, she did not like anything about him… Her heart pounded, she wanted to run but her body wouldn't listen. She froze in fear at the sight of this man that stared at her like a beast eyeing its prey.

"I did not know this island had a fish running about it." Kaizer eyed her with a grin. "Are you the treasured bride?" He took a step out, dragging the corpse of the man from the house. He was not nearly as fun to fight as the old man from the village but he wasn't here for fun…

She looked at the body he dragged along by the head, the man's large hand held onto it and covered most of the face but she knew… she knew her papa's smile… why papa… why would you be smiling when… when your…

"Run little fish." He threw the body of the man at her, it landed up against the woman's carcass with a delightful squish that made his grin grow wider. "I like it better when they run."

She couldn't breathe… her body wouldn't move. Move legs, please… move! Her eyes met her mother's, they stared at her blankly… lifeless… She never stopped crying, she didn't even have the will power to scream any more… but she fought to move her body. Scrambling and crawling away till her feet found the ground below her and she ran, she had to get away. Get away from that blood covered man and those black eyes…

The man in the window snickered to himself as he watched the fishwoman run off into the forest and licked the fresh cut on his arm. "Want us to catch that one?"

"No." Kaizer tilted his neck till it popped and made pleasurable growl. "I want to chase that one myself." He liked the unique ones and if that one failed the test then he'd take his time in making her scream. "Find where the women and children are being kept, contact me when you do." With that he took off after the little fish, he had given her enough of a head start but to be honest there was none that could out run him. It took the fun out of the chase sometimes but then again, they weren't here for fun.

Lu's feet moved her forward, it was all they could do. She had to run, she had to find someplace safe… she had started to head towards Abby's ship, they'd be able to help. They were strong and… She stopped… she stopped when she realized that she couldn't go there. She'd be leading the ones chasing her to where the other villagers are, to all the women and children… to Sam and Sebastian… she couldn't protect mama… but she could protect them. She shifted and began running in a different direction, she'd head to the sea… if she could get out to the water she'd be able to hide there. They wouldn't be able to chase her underwater, it would be ok… she could do this, she could…

"Heeee…"

Her heart stopped and her feet faltered and tripped over themselves, she hit the ground and skidded to a stop. She could feel a cut on her arm but she tried to ignore it, her eyes darting around. She heard it… she heard the tall man's voice but she didn't see him…

"Behind you."

She let out a scream, the voice was beside her. She rubbed away the feeling of his hot breath against her ear and scrambled away from him, how? How did he get right behind her so quickly? "Get away!" She screamed as she threw handfuls of dirt and forest debris at him.

He let out an agitated growl as he grabbed her by the throat, slamming her head against the ground and putting his weight into pinning her. As a fishwoman she was natural blessed with greater strength than an average human… but he was no average human. "Enough of your playing, little fish." He wiped away the remnants of dirt on his face and slipped the knife from its sheath on his waist. "I have lots of people still left to kill." He touched the blade against the skin of her stomach and delighted in how her body tensed. "And you have a test that would be in your best interest to pass…"

She held her breath as he moved the knife along her stomach, she knew if she twitched even a little she would be cut. He didn't release the grip he had on her neck and his weight was on top of her as he straddled her body and kept her pinned, she wasn't used to this… she was used to being so much stronger than everyone else on the island… she never thought there would be such a terrifying man in the world… and what was this test he mentioned… how was she supposed to pass something she knew nothing about…

He grinned as he watched her, scared little fish. Trembling so pathetically… he brought the knife up and held it above her face.

Her eyes watched it sway above her head, she wished he would just get it over with… being toyed with like this… was too much… the knife moved downward and she closed her eyes, waiting to feel the pain… she waited… but it did not come. One eye peeked open then the other as they widened in shock, he did not cut her… he cut… himself.

He frowned as he eyed the cut… the blood flowed freely, it did not stop… it did not heal. "Another failure." He let go of her neck and slipped the knife back into its sheath. "That's not good for you, little fish." He gripped her face, forcing her to look at him. "It was the only thing that could keep you safe from me…"

Fresh tears started to fall, his hand gripped her face painfully. His weight was suffocating and he loomed over her till his massive form shielded her from the light of the sun and his shadow covered her… she was scared… She was so scared… Bon… Save me brother… please… save me… I'm scared…

* * *

Abby buried her katana into the stomach of one of the pirates, around her the sound of clashing metal rung out. Beside her Forrest was shredding his enemies with bellowing roars and embodied the beast he took the form of. The ground was soaked with blood; the pirates blood, the villagers blood… even her own. These bastards fought like demons, they didn't care if they got hurt. They didn't fall back they just pushed forward. She didn't want to kill them, she wanted answers as to who they are and what they wanted but they gave her no choice. They attacked until the were killed, even if limbs were severed they kept coming… what the hell were these people?

"We are subduing them!" Forrest yelled, around them her crew cried out triumphantly. They had not won but they were gaining the upper hand by sheer numbers alone but something didn't seem right.

"Abigail!"

A familiar voice called out to her and she turned to see the old man using a building to support his weight. "Gran-Ba!" She ran to him, kneeling down to wrap an arm around him. He was hurt, bad. "I got to get you to safety, your wounds…"

"To hell with my wounds." He interrupted her. "You have more to worry about than an old fool like me. You have to get to the house!" He winced in pain, damn it all. That towering man beat him soundly and he could tell he wasn't even trying… damn it all…

She furrowed her brow, his ribs must have been broken. His breathing was too labored… "What are you talking about?"

"The Captain… to these monsters." He began coughing, blood splattered the ground in front of him. Damn it all… he could not stop him… "He's heading to the Bon house; you have to stop him."

Her heart stopped. "Did their Captain do this to you?"

"Yes, he's… he's even worse than these little underlings… he's a demon Abby… you have to stop him."

"Simon…" Her eyes went to the path that would take her to the house… Simon was on his way there… No, he should've gotten there already… Oh god. "Lu."

Gran pushed himself away from her. "Go, you have to hurry. They'll need all the help they can get to take that man down."

She nodded her head firmly and stood. "Forrest! Take command!" She started running, please be ok… please. She didn't know if Simon and his father could hold off this man… she didn't even know if she could either but she had to go. Her family was in danger, Simon… Lu… Sam… Sebastian… All of them were in the path of a monster.

"Where are ya goin?!" The tiger yelled out, this was no time for her to be running off. To the side, movement caught his attention. Damn it all. "Reinforcements! Brace yerself lads!" It was more of the enemy; these ones must have been out searching for the other villagers. He had thought that the numbers of the bastards seemed too small… His men were already getting winded, these people didn't fight like normal humans. They were men possessed, berserkers that were drunk on the stench of blood and death. Who the hell were these guys…

* * *

"Mom! Dad!" Simon called out as he broke into the clearing. "Lulu!" Oh god… the front door was open… He barreled into the house but it was empty. Did they get out in time?... A bullet hole in the wall caught his attention, not far away a familiar rifle lay discarded… Dad… slowly he started noticing the blood droplets on the ground, splatter along the walls… Oh god. "Mom! Lulu!" He dashed upstairs, throwing open the bedroom doors. The rooms had been ransacked, belli and jewelry were still scattered so they must have been looking for people not riches. Where were you guys? He went into his parent's room… no one… his eyes went to the open window. Maybe they escaped, he looked out and below… and his heart stopped cold… bodies… there were bodies… he had stopped breathing, hands trembling…

He pushed himself away from the window and ran to the steps, clearing most of them in leaps as he dashed out the door and around back. His vision was blurred by the tears, whose bodies… whose bodies… He stumbled and fell into them, they weren't as warm as they should be… "Mom…" He touched her face, her eyes were open still… her throat… dear lord. His shaking hand went to face and closed her eyes… he looked over to his father… Damn it… why do you have to be smiling at a time like this… He swallowed his despair and wiped away his tears, he… he could cry later. Right now he had to find his sister. "Lu!" He called out as he stood and ran back around the house. "Lu sweety!" Where was she? There was no sign of her here so she had to have gotten away…

"Heee…"

A sound got his attention, he spun on his heel but there was nothing behind him. What the hell… he knew he heard something…

"Heee…"

There! He turned and saw the shadow beside his home, he knew there was no one there a moment ago. "Who are you!" He yelled as he slipped off the ring he wore on his left hand; he couldn't take any chances… if this was one of the pirates then he'd not hold back in using his devil fruit abilities.

"Who am I?... Who am I…" Kaizer stepped out from beside the house. "I don't think you really care about that do you." He sneered at the boy in front of him, he had heard him yelling so he knew who this person was and could guess who he was just calling for. "I think… this… is the one you care about." He held up the little fish, she was still alive… but only barely. She had broken quite easily…

Bon's eyes grew wide; he was holding up his baby sister like she was nothing more than a doll. "Lu… Lu sweety…" His voice was cracking; he couldn't lose her too… not her. She wasn't moving… please no. Her eyes… they weren't dead but… she looked like her soul had been shattered. He bit his lip, drawing blood from himself as he tried to stop the tears. Her clothes were ripped up and she was bleeding everywhere like he had taken his time to beat her… to torture her. "What have you done… What have you done to her!" His fists were clenched so tightly he could feel his nails digging into his palms. "She's just a kid!"

"Hm?" The other man held her up so he could look at her face, other hand gripping her body and giving it a feel. "That's the problem with fish… you can never tell their age…"

"Let her go!" He screamed the words that turned into a roar of rage, he reached into his vest and pulled out something small with his right hand then tossed it into his left. A poof of smoke obscured his vision for a moment but it did not slow him as he raised the newly restored gun to point at the other man. He did not wait for him to act as he pulled the trigger and fired a round.

"Heee…" Kaizer grinned wildly, a devil fruit user huh? How interesting, it was rare to find one of them outside the grandline. He did not dodge, instead letting the bullet collide with his shoulder. "Stupid boy, you should have aimed for my head."

"Tch!" Bon spat, his aim was terrible. He hoped he'd hit him in a vital spot but that was really the best he could do? On top of that the guy didn't even budge… he let himself get hit. To hell with it, if the guy wanted to get shot then he'd be more than happy to do it… He just had to get Lu back… at all costs. "Let my sister go." He raised the gun again, he'd make damn sure he hit him in the head this time.

The other man sneered. "Catch." He tossed the little fish with a growl, he'd break this boy as well. He hated when little runts like him acted too big.

His eyes got wide as he saw her coming at him, he opened his arms and did his best to catch her. "Lu! Lu sweety… I got you…" Suddenly he felt a pressure in his gut, it knocked the wind out of him and sent him tumbling back with Lu barely in his arms.

Kaizer laughed loudly at the spectacle of the boy being thrown backwards by his punch. "Come now boy, even that old man from the village could take it better than you."

Blood hit the ground as he coughed heavily, that hit was like nothing he'd ever felt before. How could someone be that strong? A large hand grabbed his neck and lifted him up, he lost his gun in the tumble and it was his only one… he only had one more option… He slipped his other ring off and grabbed onto the arm that was holding him up.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking you, boy. Just like I did to your sister…Hm?" Something was wrong, he could feel… something wasn't right. The other man seemed to be getting bigger… no! He was shrinking! He dropped the boy and backed away… what had he done?

Bon steadied himself as he slipped the ring back onto his left hand, he didn't want to risk accidently restoring this man's size.

The man arched a brow as he watched the boy… so that's what it was. One hand to shrink things and the other to return them to normal… No matter. "Your trick will only work if you touch me." He cracked his knuckles, it had been a long time since he was caught off guard. He gave a grin as he took a deep breath, time to return the favor.

The younger man didn't have much time to react, he felt the heat and before he knew it there was fire. He screamed and rolled around on the ground to extinguish it but he knew one side of his face was burned good. This man… this man was a monster.

Kaizer laughed loudly as he watched the boy roll, that pretty face of his would be ruined. "Don't worry boy, I'll end your life before the day is over. You won't have to live with being ugly for long."

* * *

Abby cursed to herself, her lungs were on fire as she tried to run at full speed but these damn pirates kept getting in the way. They emerged from the forest around her like a swarm, how many where there? What the hell did they want?

 _Purupurupurupuru_

The sound of her baby Den Den Mushi rang out but she couldn't get to it, that would involve her putting down one of her swords and that really wasn't an option right now. She had to break away from his group… but if she made a dead run to the house then they'd follow her and she didn't want to bring even more enemies for them to fight… still, there was something in her gut telling her she had to get there… she had to reach Simon…

 _Purupurupurupuru_

She cursed loudly and bolted through the group, they were barely good fighters so that's not what the issue was. It was the sheer force of their damn numbers and the way they didn't stop coming no matter how much they were wounded.

 _Purupuru… click_

"Whoever this is better have a damn good message." She yelled into the snail as she continued to run, she didn't like having one of her hands tied up with a call but she couldn't ignore it on the chance it was important.

"Quit yer bitch'n woman."

The voice was Forrest, she smirked a bit, he must have gotten things under control. "What's the situation?"

"Shit storm an a 'alf, been try'n ta capture tha shits but they've been bite'n off their damn tongues. 'ad to gag the fuckers."

Holy hell… "Well if you got things settled I need you with me, the Captain is at Simon's house."

"Fuck'n 'ell… I'll be with ya Cap'n, gonna 'ave our ship off with the weaker folk. They'll be safer on tha water than docked."

"Good call… leave a skeleton crew on the ship. I want what people we can spare at the house and capture as many as these fucks as you can."

The face of the transponder snail gave a sneer. "Aye Cap'n, see ya in a tick."

The line went dead, she shoved the little snail into her pocket and drew her other sword again, the children will be safe… she just hoped that Lu got to the ship in time. Now all she had to do was worry about Simon… Behind her she heard the pirates chasing her, with any luck Forrest will be hot on her heels with crew to handle them… She had faith in them.

The path started to widen, she'd be at the house soon… Simon… I'm coming… I'm coming my love… Her feet pounded against the ground, she could see the clearing… any second. She heard him before she could see, drawn to his yells of pain. "Simon!" She screamed as she ran towards him, a larger man had him pinned. Holding Bon's right hand above his head as he straddled his body, a flash of silver before it disappeared and Simon yelled once more. Her feet carried her faster as she barreled into the side of the man, one sword burying itself into his leg as she used all her strength to shove him off of her lover. She stood defensively over him, one sword held out in front of her and the other still stuck in the enemy's leg. Her eyes darted down… "Oh my god…"

Bon coughed up more blood, her voice was a godsend… He looked up to her as best he could, one eye didn't seem to want to work, he reached up with his left hand to touch her face… he had to make sure it was really her. "Baby… get Lu… get her… and run." This man they fought… this monster… it was nothing like anything he had ever seen before.

She was trembling, she could feel her tears falling silently but she couldn't even muster a wail… Simon… his face… his body… She swallowed her sorrow and replaced it with rage, she had to remain calm… Lu, he said Lu was still here… She looked around and paused when she saw her, the girl's body was laying a bit off… but she still breathed, shallow and barely noticeable but she was breathing.

"Heee…" Kaizer stood up, brushing himself off and eyeing his leg then back to the woman. "Finally." He grinned wildly. "A proper woman." He broke the hilt of the sword off then finished pulling it out from the other side of his leg. "And a fighter… I didn't think there were any women here with a proper backbone."

"Shut up!" She growled at him, she hated the sound of his voice and the look in his eyes. He didn't look at her like she was a person, she was just a bit of meat to him. "This island is under my protection! So do me a favor and die!"

"Protection?" He tilted his head to one side as he eyed her. "What exactly are you protecting?" He took a step forward, opening his arms wide. "Did you 'protect' that little fish?" Another step. "Did you 'protect' that man at your feet?" Closer. "Did you 'protect' the family of this house as my men slaughtered them!"

Her eyes got wide… Mother… and Father… Oh god…

"Tell me woman!" His voice bellowed. "What is it that you are protecting!"

"Shut up!" She screamed and lunged forward, her heart filled with rage, who was this beast! Who was this person who would hurt everything she loved!

"Abby! No!" Simon sat up as best he could to try and stop her but his gut was cut open good and his voice was barely there. Please no baby, don't fight him… I can't lose you too… he started crying and tried to crawl to her, he had to stop her… she can't win against this monster. Please baby, just run… it hurt to move. His hand was broken and there were stabs in his legs so his muscles screamed with every attempt to move and his tears burned. He couldn't help anyone, he couldn't save his parents, he couldn't stop his sister from being hurt… he was so fucking weak…

Kaizer laughed loudly, this woman had more spunk than the rest and more fighting ability too… but she was still no match for him. He grabbed her arms, crushing the wrist of the one holding the sword till he heard it snap and her added scream of pain. Beautiful. "You are not the treasured bride either…" He licked the side of her face were blood flowed freely down from a gash in her head.

She winced and struggled, the feel of his tongue against her cheek made her stomach churn. She kicked, her boots landing solid into his gut but it didn't faze him. "Let me go!" She couldn't stand it; she couldn't stand the fact that she was so damn helpless…

He let go of the broken wrist so she dangled freely by one arm, even with that boy on the ground shrinking his size this woman was but a doll to him. "I'll release you from this world woman…" His free hand grabbed her crotch and began to rub her roughly, he reveled in the look of horror in her eyes at the revelation of what he planned. "After you receive my blessing."

"Abby!" Simon screamed as he watched, no… no, he couldn't witness this… don't do this… don't do this!

"Cap'n!"

A new voice broke into the clearing and drew everyone's eyes as the massive tiger gained momentum and dove into the side of the man holding his Captain, claws and fangs digging deep. Behind him a group of his men followed with weapons held high and voices yelling, they came for her. Their Captain.

"Tch!" Kaizer spat as he dropped the woman and took note of the new faces, so that's what had happened. Bad luck that there was another pirate crew hiding here… and this woman was its Captain… heh. She might not have been the treasured bride but it was a prize regardless, his Master would want this one… He let out a growl, first things first would be to deal with this zoan that was making a mess of his abdomen. He inhaled, readying another flame in his gut.

Forrest let out a snarl, he could sense the man was up to something. He released and darted away just as the monster exhaled a stream of fire that blanketed the ground and would have done more than singe a few of his hairs. "Stay back lads!" He called to his men, they had scattered and went to each of the wounded. It looked like the boy had the worst of it though. "Son of a whore is a devil fruit user!" He shifted his form to that of the man-beast and let out a snarl.

"You have good sense about you." He stared at the cat and then shifted his gaze to the other men, most likely his own crew had been taken down and he could hear more people coming and he doubted any of them were his… His body shifted and grew, skin hardening into scales as he hunched over onto all fours. "Today is a loss…" His teeth sharpened to fangs that gave a sneer. "but I will find you again 'Captain Abby'…" His neck elongated and hair flowed into a mane of flames. "And you will receive my blessing."

" 'oly mother of god…" Forrest was never shaken by much but even his eyes grew wide at the sight of the creature before him, this monster's true form…

Abby's heart sank, she never had a chance… one on one, none of them would have survived… "a mythical zoan… the Kirin…" She could hardly believe it… what was something like that doing in the west blue?

Kaizer leapt into the air, clouds forming beneath his hooves as he floated above them all. He'd remember this place and especially that woman, it had been a long time since he had to report a failure to his Master… this moment would never be forgotten. He gave a growl and turned away, climbing higher and higher. He would find an island or a ship, whichever came first and return to his Master… but first… he had one last thing to do.

They watched the monster retreat but it gave them no solace… not when the direction he was heading sunk in. "The ship!" Abby screamed the words just as the rest of her crew made the realization. "Warn the ship! He's coming!" Her mind was ready to break, they rounded up everyone… everyone was on board… and there wasn't enough people to protect them.

Forrest gave a challenging roar to the sky. "Come back 'ere an fight ya bloody coward!" It was no use though, his words meant nothing to the monster and he knew it. None of them meant anything. "To tha ship lads!" He commanded as he shifted back into animal form and looked back to his Captain, he had never seen her looking so helpless… and he never wanted to see that look again. God save those people; he'd never ask for anything again… just save them. Especially the children… without another world he left, as fast as his feet would carry him he ran. He had to save Sam at the very least, that boy… he meant the world to the ship and was like a grandson to him… God forgive him, he'd let every last villager die if it meant saving that one boy. He just prayed it didn't come to that.

"Warn the ship." Abby found her voice and turned to the crew mate beside her. "Warn them about what's coming… I… I have to…" She tried to get up but hands came from around her to stop her.

"Don't move Captain."

"You need to get that wrist wrapped."

Voices around her tried to stop her but she strained not to listen…

"Abby baby…"

His voice reached her above the others, she looked around and saw him struggling against her crew just like she was doing. "Simon…" She breathed his name, he looked terrible… but he was still trying to reach her. She shrugged off the hands holding her from running off and she went to him. "I'm here… I'm here…" She pulled him into her lap as her people worked to stop the bleeding, was this really… all she could do right now?

He tried to hold onto her but he could barely move his arms, he was thankful… so thankful. She didn't get hurt bad… she wasn't… he didn't… his eyes widened. "Lu…" He licked his lips, his throat felt dry despite the blood he had been coughing up. "Lu… where is she?"

Abby looked over her shoulder, more of her people were taking care of Lu. It looked like she had finally passed out… a nod from her crew mate… "She's fine…" She hugged the man in her arms as best she could without hurting him. "She's fine…" She said it again but she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince…

 _Purupurupurupuru_

The sound from her baby transponder snail caused her to jump and she scrambled to find it, answering it hurriedly. "Yes? What happened? Is everyone ok?"

"Calm yerself…"

It was Forrest, his voice didn't seem distraught… please let that be a good sign.

"Tha beast is gone…" the face sighed and looked away. "Set fire ta tha ship but all the weak ones were down below, wasn't after them…"

She breathed a sigh of relief, finally some good news. "What was he after then?"

Another sigh with a few grumbles came over the transponder. "Beast took off with one of our flags… we've made a right terrible enemy today Cap'n… 'e knows our scent an 'as our mark. Bastard will be lookin fer us now."

She gripped her face and cursed every god she could think of… "Pull the ship around the island to the main dock… we have a lot of people needing medical attention…"

"A lot more of 'em will be needing a bit more than that."

"Handle it… please." She closed her eyes… how many of these people were killed today… when her ship gets brought around there will be a nightmare waiting for the people there… "Take the adults aside and prepare them… don't let the children leave that ship." Not until… dear lord… she's never had to deal with something like this before.

"Rest easy Cap'n… I'll take care of it."

The line went dead after that and all she could do was drop the snail and hold her lover… She knew what she had to do… and she knew Simon wouldn't like it…

* * *

A week had passed… the longest week any of them had ever experienced. The held a mass funeral for all the people that were killed, Forrest led them in pray and gave the final rights to them all… it was the first time they had seen him so solemn as he performed his duty but none of them faulted him for it.

Abby eyed the ship of the invading pirates, in its bowels the surviving crew were chained and left. She did not waste the supplies to mend them nor did they spare them food or drink… these prisoners were slowly dying and she only wished she could prolong the suffering… but her rage had to be put aside. She and every other person on this island were filled with a fury they had never felt before and many of these kind hearted people have changed… she could see it in their eyes. The beasts that invaded their home weren't driven off… they now resided in each and every one of these people's souls. She saw movement on the deck of the ship and turned her attention to the two people now walking down the ramp, wiping their hands clean of the blood from their latest venture into the ships belly.

Simon winced as rubbed the blood away, his hand was wrapped tightly so the bones could mend and ever step hurt like hell but he couldn't stay in bed and rest. Not when these bastards still breathed.

Gran looked ahead, his face stern… it had taken a good bit but they finally had answers. "Hm?" He looked ahead and saw the townsfolk gathering, the women, children… and what men were still left. His heart… ached at the sight of all these faces, from young to old… filled with such malice and blood lust.

Abby looked down when she felt a hand touching hers. "Sam…" She stroked the boy's hair affectionately… where was her gentle child, the little flirt that would woo the baker's wife out of her sweet cakes… that innocence was gone… they all lost something in this raid but this was the saddest thing of all. What a terrible world they lived in, were a child would be tainted with such rage.

"What's the news?"

"Tell us Gran-Ba."

"Why did they do this?"

"Who are they?"

Voices called out from the crowd, everyone desperately wanting the answers to why they had to suffer like this. Simon stepped forward and raised his hand to quiet them. "A moment." He said sternly, he had stepped up during this and taken charge. He might not have been strong to prevent this from happening but he sure as hell would never let it happen again. "Before I start… where is Lu?"

The villagers exchanged glances and a few murmurs but ultimately they did not know.

"Rest easy lad." Forrest came walking up from the back. "She's on our ship, 'asn't left all day."

Simon gave a nod; she hadn't left Abby's ship since the attack. She couldn't even bring herself to attend the funeral and he didn't try to force it. He didn't know what happened to her in the moments before he got to the house, he didn't know what she witnessed or what was done to her… but they all feared the worst and none of them wanted to add to it by having her be a part in what was about to take place. "We didn't learn much but we have a name now."

"What good is a name?"

"That won't give us answers."

More arguments sounded and he raised his hand again to quiet them. "We've stripped this ship of all its wealth, I'm going to use that money to commission a ship from Galley-La. The fastest ship the world has ever seen and I will hunt down the boss of these people, this 'Yeagar Faust'… and I'll make him pay."

"But what can you do?"

"What about the island?"

"I'll become stronger, we all will." He rubbed his broken hand tenderly, the thought of how easily he was beaten painfully fresh in his mind. "And I have a plan… a way for us to become stronger and make this island flourish…"

"But first…" Abby turned to face the others. "As soon as you all are healthy enough… I'm leaving Bala bala." She felt Simon come up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, they had discussed this for days and Simon did his best to talk her out of it… but there was no other choice. "We won't ever return."

"What?!"

"We need you here!"

"Why would you leave us now!"

"Listen to her!" Gran stepped forward now. "It is true that without Abby and her crew, this island would've been taken but now her being here will only endangers us more."

She raised a hand to silence them before they could argue. "The monster that led these people and attacked my ship now has a personal vendetta against me, the longer I stay here the greater the chance of him returning. I'm going to enter the grandline and head straight for the new world, I'll put as much distance in-between us as I can to make sure you all stay safe from that man."

A few people murmured but none could argue, not one of them wished for that man to return…

Simon turned away from them and walked back towards the ship. "You all have my word…" He raised his bandaged hand, unwrapping it and slipping off the sea stone ring he wore. "We will never suffer like we did ever again." He placed his hand on the ship, the shrinking slowly taking effect. "I swear to you…"

They all stood and watched as the ships mass grew smaller and smaller, soon they could hear the yells from the prisoners still inside that were unaffected by Simon's touch, Abby looked down and saw that Sam's eyes were glued on what was happening. She tried to shield him but he refused to turn away, her eyes turning upward to see the other children that had gathered… all intently watching. No one looked away as the sounds of screaming grew louder and just faintly you could hear the sickening crunch as the bodies began to be crushed… Still no one looked away. Every survivor went to the dock to watch these intruders be erased from existence, their hatred not being quenched as they watched Simon shrink the ship and knowing full well there were living people still inside. People that screamed like they had screamed, that bled, cursed, cried and experienced pain just like them…

In these moments… No one looked away.

 **End of the Flashback… The Main Story Will Continue…**

 **A/N: Well now, that one was a bit of a doozy. I hope you all enjoyed (for lack of a better word) this flashback, the next chapter will pick back up into the normal story. Please leave a review, I'd love to know what you thought.**


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